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.

Archive for February 9th, 2006

Wisconsin Taxpayer Protection Amendment

by @ 22:49. Filed under Politics - Wisconsin, WTPA.

I really can’t say it much better than Brian and Owen.   As far as I can see, there’s a lot of good and only two major problems with WTPA:

  1. The “second consecutive Legislature” requirement for a Constitutional amendment (first spotted by Owen)  would be circumvented for anything relating to WTPA.   There is a reason why the writers of the Wisconsin Constitution put it in there; so that no fad that doesn’t have the lasting power of a couple of years gets into the Constitution.
  2. The lack of a per-pupil foundation in the school-district portion of the amendment.   As an anonymous commenter at Fraley’s Dailytakes pointed out, “Less kids should mean fewer expenses.”   It only makes sense that if we let a unit of government grow with growth in the community and force that unit of government to shrink if property becomes abandoned and worth less, and we let a school district grow with the addition of students, we should make a school district shrink if it loses students.

Owen  points out that the battle is more likely going to be to keep the good rather than fix the bad.   It’s also pretty damn good; so count me in on the WTPA bandwagon.

Sykes Writes – Quick quiz

by @ 20:13. Filed under Politics - National, War on Terror.

Charlie has a quick quiz on which item the ‘Rats regret bringing up more (er, it’s only “most” when there are 3 items) – The Abramoff Scandal or The NSA Wiretap Issue.

At this point, I’ll go with the Abramoff Scandal.   It is now clear that Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nevada)  used his influence to affect legislation in the favor of Abramoff clients in exchange for campaign contributions from same.

Of course, if it comes out that NSA intercepts did help out in busting up the planned Al-Qaida follow-on attack on the Library Tower in LA (the linked AP  story from breibart.com says that President Bush neither confirmed nor denied that the NSA intercept program helped bust up the attack), the ‘Rats will really rue bringing that up.

NASCAR Nextel Cup preview – The top 5

by @ 15:45. Filed under Sports.

We finally have come to the true contenders.   The first 4 drivers will be oh-so-close to being on the podium, they’ll taste it coming into Homestead:

  • Greg Biffle, driving the Roush #16 Army National Guard Ford.   What can I say about Biffle?   He just wins.
  • Tony Stewart, driving the Joe Gibbs Racing #20 Home Depot Chevy.   You just don’t repeat in NASCAR.
  • Jeff Gordon, driving the Hendrick #24 DuPont/Pepsi Chevy.   He got screwed in 2004.   He screwed himself in 2005.   He’ll come almost all the way back in 2006.
  • Jimmie Johnson, driving the Hendrick #48 Lowe’s Chevy.   He’ll always be the bridesmaid.

That just leaves  the 2006 Nextel Cup champ –


Photo courtesy the White House via mattkenseth.com

Matt Kenseth, driving the Roush #17 DeWalt Tools Ford.   He’s finally got this Chase thing figured out, and take a look at the last 5 years.   2001 Winston Cup champ – Jeff Gordon.   2002 Winston Cup champ – Tony Stewart.   2003 Winston Cup champ – Matt Kenseth.   2004 Nextel Cup champ – should have been Gordon except for a screwing by Brain France.   2005 Nextel Cup champ – Tony Stewart.   The numbers favor the Robot; maybe this time, he’ll get some respect.

NASCAR Nextel Cup preview – tail end of the Chase

by @ 15:36. Filed under Sports.

While none of these 5 drivers will have much of a chance to win the Nextel Cup, they will be packing their bags for New York City after the fall Richmond race (again, no particular order):

  • Kyle Busch, driving the Hendrick #5 Kelloggs Chevy.   There’s an unwritten rule that there must be a Busch in the Chase.
  • Dale Earnhardt Jr., driving the DEI #8 Budweiser Chevy.   The good news; Tony Eury Jr is back.   The bad; there’s still flat tracks on the circuit.
  • Kasey Kahne, driving the Evernham #9 Dodge Dealers Dodge.   The sophomore slump is over, and Jr will have some competition for camera time at the end of the year from NBC.
  • Ryan Newman, driving the Penske #12 ALLTEL/Mobil 1 Dodge.   Over/under on the number of poles for Rocket; 10 (take the over).   Over/under on the best finish for Rocket; 10 (also take the over).
  • Carl Edwards, driving the Roush #99 Office Depot Ford.   Since he never ran for ROTY, can he really have a sophomore slump?

NASCAR Nextel Cup preview – 11-15

by @ 15:28. Filed under Sports.

The guys that will be oh-so-close to the Chase:

  • Joe Nemechek, driving the MB2 #01 Army Chevy.   I just can’t root against Front Row Joe because he’s driving the Army Surplus Special.
  • Kurt Busch, driving the Penske #2 Miller Lite Dodge.   Come the fall Richmond race, I’ll be laughing my ass off when Rubberhead falls short.
  • Jeremy Mayfield, driving the Evernham #19 Dodge Dealers Dodge.   The fade will start a bit earlier this year.
  • Kevin Harvick, driving the RCR #29 GM Goodwrench/Reeses Chevy.   Happy will never be consistent enough to make the Chase.
  • Elliott Sadler, driving the RYR #38 M&M’s Ford.   The odds-on favorite to flip his car at Talladega.

Most-likely of the 5 to get the $1,000,000 booby prize for finishing 11th; Sadler.

NASCAR Nextel Cup preview – 16-20

by @ 15:22. Filed under Sports.

Into the top 20:

  • Martin Truex Jr., driving the DEI #1 Bass Pro Shops Chevy.   If only he could have brought the Busch cars with him,….
  • Mark Martin, driving the Roush #6 AAA Ford.   Mark will regret taking one for the team.
  • Clint Bowyer, driving the RCR #07 Jack Daniel’s Chevy.   He’ll have the best equipment of the rookies.   Whether that overcomes the talent advantage that Truex has remains to be seen.
  • Jamie McMurray, driving the Roush #26 Sharpie Ford.   He’s real happy that Rubberhead decided to pull his Phoenix stunt.
  • Dale Jarrett, driving the RYR #88 UPS Ford.   Where’s the truck?!?!?

NASCAR Nextel Cup preview – 21-25

by @ 15:17. Filed under Sports.

Continuing my spiel (once again, in no particular order):

  • Denny Hamlin, driving the Joe Gibbs Racing #11 FedEx Chevy.   The big question at JGR is whether Smoke will share any of the tricks that gave him the 2005 Nextel Cup.
  • JJ Yeley, driving the Joe Gibbs Racing #18 Interstate Batteries Chevy.   We’re about to find out whether Bobby Labonte really lost his ability to drive.
  • Bobby Labonte, driving the Petty Enterprises #43 Cheerios Dodge.   Bobby brings Petty the best chance in years to win a race.   Unfortunately, both he and the team have lost a lot since 2000.
  • Brian Vickers, driving the Hendrick #25 GMAC Chevy.   Every team has to have a weak sister; McVickers is Hendrick’s.
  • Reed Sorenson, driving the Ganassi #41 Target Dodge.   There hasn’t been this much excitement in the Target camp since Jimmy “Mr. Excitement”  Spencer punched out Kurt “Rubberhead” Busch.

NASCAR Nextel Cup preview – 26-34

by @ 15:11. Filed under Sports.

Moving right along, let’s continue with 31-34 in my predicted 2006 finish (again, no particular order):

  • Dave Blaney, driving the Bill Davis Racing #22 Catepillar Dodge.   BDR will muddle through one more year before Toyota comes charging in to make them instant title contenders.
  • Kyle Petty, driving the Petty Enterprises #45 Wells Fargo/Schwan’s/Your Company Here Dodge.   The good news is that the #43 team is set.   The bad is that The Other Kyle doesn’t have sponsorship for more than half the races.
  • Brent Sherman, driving the BAM Racing #49 Serta/Hickory Farms Dodge.   Brent picked the wrong year to even think about trying for ROTY.   At least he’ll have the benefit of starting the first 5 races.
  • Sterling Marlin, driving the MB2 Motorsports #14 Waste Management/Your Company Here Chevy.   At least Riggs and Evernham left the owners’ points; otherwise, Sterling would be missing more than the 24 races he doesn’t have a sponsor for.

Moving barely into the top 30 and out of the danger zone:

  • Ken Schrader, driving the Wood Brothers/JTG Racing #21 Little Debbies/Motorcraft/Air Force Ford.   I’ll believe Ken’s retired when he’s been buried for 5 years.
  • Jeff Burton, driving the RCR #31 Cingular Chevy.   Brother Ward is wondering when NASCAR ceased being a Southern sport.
  • David Stremme, driving the Ganassi #40 Coor’s Light/Lonestar Dodge.   Stremme picked the wrong team to join for his ROTY run.
  • Casey Mears, driving the Ganassi #42 Texaco/Havoline Dodge.   Mears is the luckiest guy in NASCAR; if Home123 hadn’t pulled out of NASCAR, he would be nothing more than a field-filler.   In Ganassi’s best ride, he’s only little more than a field-filler.
  • Jeff Green, driving the Haas-CNC #66 Best Buy Chevy.   Believe it or not, this is a step up for Jeff.

NASCAR Nextel Cup preview – beyond 34th

by @ 14:55. Filed under Sports.

With the NASCAR portion of SpeedWeeks kicking off Saturday with the Bud Shootout and continuing with Sunday’s qualifying (which will have more to do with Thursday’s Gatorade Duels than the following Sunday’s season-opening Daytona 500), it’s time to look ahead to how the full-time drivers (according to Jayski)  will do in 2006.   This will leave out the likes of Tony Raines, who will take over the new-for-2006 Hall of Fame #96 TI DLP Chevy starting the 6th race (they’ll run past-champ Terry Labonte to ensure they make the first 5 races as well as the 2 road-course races, hope  get into the top 35 in owners’ points to ensure a start, and then stay there), and Kenny Wallace, who will run most but not all the races in the new-for-2006 Furniture Row #78 Chevy.

Let’s start with the full-time drivers  that will have to qualify their way in every week.   This will actually start with 35th-place as I expect the HOF team to stay in the top 35 in owners’ points beyond the start of the season (in no particular order).

  • Scott Riggs, driving the Evernham #10 Valvoline/Stanley Tools Dodge.   Ray Evernham picked the wrong year to start a third team.   They won’t be able to overcome the hole of missing an early race (most likely the Daytona 500).
  • Derrike Cope, driving the McGlinn Racing #00 (we think) Chevy (again, we think).   Derrike should’ve retired after the 1990 Daytona 500.
  • Scott Wimmer, driving the Morgan-McClure #4 AERO Exhaust Chevy.   The team got screwed when Doug Bawel teamed up with Michael Waltrip to keep Jasper Racing alive.   They really could have used the break of Penske folding the #77 team.
  • Robby Gordon, driving his own #7 Harrah’s/Jim Beam/Menard’s Chevy.   Robby, not-so-affectionately known as “Crash” and “Rubby”, wishes every race was on a road course.
  • Travis Kvapil, driving the PPI #32 Tide Chevy.   One-car teams are a thing of the past in NASCAR.
  • Randy LaJoie, driving the Front Row/Mach 1  #34 Chevy.   Nothing like reinforcing failure with more failure.   Neither Mach 1 nor Front Row could get a sponsor, so they decided to join forces and create a 2-car team.   That’s something I’d expect Wile E. Thompson, suuuuper genius, to do.
  • Michael Waltrip, driving the Waltrip/Jasper(/BDR) #55 Dodge.   Driving 4th-rate equipment, Mikey will waste the opportunity he bought by buying his way into Jasper Racing and guaranteeing himself a start for the first 5 races.
  • Kevin Lepage, driving the Peak Performance #61 Ford (or is it Chevy; they tested a Chevy at Daytona).   Somewhere in Virginia, Hermie “The Other” Sadler is laughing.
  • Morgan Shepherd, driving his own #89 Dodge.   Odds of Grampa Shepherd making 5 races where there are at least 44 entrants; 50-1.
  • Chad Chaffin, driving the Front Row Motorsports #92 (probably will be #192 in your NASCAR program once again).   See my comments for Randy LaJoie.   Further, Chad picked the wrong year to run for the ROTY.

25-34 will be up shortly.

Time to narrow the focus of Wisconsin’s Own Travelgate

by @ 12:59. Filed under Law and order, Politics - Wisconsin.

(H/T – Jenna, and cross-posted by her at the BBA)

Three months after  Georgia Thompson  fixed the infamous travel contract in the favor of Jim “Craps”  Doyle (WEAC/Potawatomi-For Sale)  contributor Adelman Travel, then-Department of Administration secretary Marc Marotta, who now serves as Craps’ campaign chair, awarded  her a $1,000/year  base-building Discretionary Compensation Adjustment (DCA).   The DCA is awarded at the secretary’s “sole discretion”.

This information, which was apparently not part of the indictment against Thompson, is now in the hands of the US Attorney’s office.   Considering that Marotta reported directly to Doyle, and Marotta currently has a prominent position in Doyle’s re-election campaign, today cannot be described as a good one for Team Craps.

If Cheeseheads were as intolerant as Islamokazis…

by @ 12:35. Filed under Miscellaneous.

(H/T – Charlie)

We would be burning storming IHOPs and Denny’s to burn Texas Toast.   Iowahawk has a great parody of a couple of Danish cartoons mocking Mohammed.   In all seriesness, we’d just take care of things quietly :-)

That gives me an excuse to once again post my favorite Danish cartoon.

Lee Holloway to Milwaukee County Board – “You f* with me, I f* you up.”

by @ 12:15. Filed under Politics - Wisconsin, Thug Holloway.

(H/T – Brian Fraley)

Embattled, ethically-“challenged” (more like “lacking”)  Milwaukee County Board Chair Lee Holloway isn’t taking the request of a new vote for county board chair lying down.   He’s demanding that those of the 10-member “putsch” that filed paperwork to re-elect a board chair on Monday, February 20,  that he hasn’t already removed from power to take a blood oath supporting him, resign any chairmanship/vice chairmanship on any committee they may be on, or face firing on Monday, February 13.   The text of the form letter sent to Supervisors Cesarz (Personnel vice-chair), DeBruin (Parks, Energy, and Environment chair), Devine (Parks, Energy, and Environment vice-chair), McCue (Finance and Audit vice-chair), Rice (Judiciary, Safety and General Services vice-chair), and Schmitt (Personnel chair):

You recently signed a petition to the County Clerk to hold a special meeting of the County Board to elect a Chairman. In addition, I appointed you to serve as (insert position: e.g. Chairman of Parks)

Because of this situation, as well as the need for continued cooperation and communication between the County Board Chairman and the Chairs and Vice Chairs of standing committees, I am requesting that you inform me as to whether you can continue to work with me in your leadership capacity under the current circumstances at the County Board.

As you know, I believe I am exercising my constitutional rights of due process in defending myself against what I believe to be unfounded and unfair ethics charge.

You have even expressed your opinion that I have the right to do this.

I am now asking you to inform me whether you feel you can continue to work with me given this situation.

If you believe you cannot continue to work with me, I would request that you resign from your current position as (insert position) until due process has been completed.

I would like you to give this your careful thought and give me an answer by Monday, February 13.

Thank you for your response.

This thug cannot be removed from office fast enough.

Wisconsin Taxpayer Protection Amendment released

by @ 11:30. Filed under Politics - Wisconsin.

Owen has the text.   I’ll be back in a while after I digest this.

Carnival of the Badger is up

by @ 11:11. Filed under Miscellaneous.

James Wigderson Library and Pub has it this week.

That was some well-spent money to get up top ;-)

The Consigliere officially enters the talk radio world

by @ 11:09. Filed under Miscellaneous.

If, for some reason, you missed the 10-o’clock hour on the Charlie Sykes show, Jessica McBride (McBride’s Media Matters)  has been hired part-time at WTMJ to run the 8-11 pm weekday slot.   She did some guest-hosting while Mark Reardon was still there.

 Congrats, Jessica.

[No Runny Eggs is proudly powered by WordPress.]