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 April 22nd, 2008

No liveblog of Pennsylvania’s results tonight

by @ 18:35. Filed under Miscellaneous.

I just don’t have the energy to run my own liveblog. Instead, I’ll be on Mike’s and Hot Air’s threads, while listening to Rick Moran’s BlogTalkRadio show.

New players in the VP sweepstakes

by @ 18:21. Filed under Politics - National.

(H/Ts – Mary Katharine Ham, Matt Lewis, Amanda Carpenter and Professor Stephen Bainbridge)

Bob Novak tossed former Ohio congressman/former Bush OMB director/former Bush special trade repesentative Rob Portman’s name out there, while RNC deputy chair Frank Donatelli floated former HP CEO/Team McCain economic advisor Carly Fiorina’s name.

First, Portman. He’s moderately-conservative (89 ACU rating in his time in the House), was part of the House leadership (not necessarily a positive in my book), and a tax-(rate-)cutter. The bad news is he is rather tied to the Bush administration, not only as a member of his administration, but as a member of Congress (thanks, fellow FReepers). Moreover, he’s been at times rather accomodating to the Democrats, at least according to the archived Columbus Dispatch article.

Next, Fiorina. She was once the darling of the business media, but as the Professor notes, she wasn’t exactly successful at HP; indeed, she was fired by the board. She does have the advantage of being a member of a key Democratic demographic that may well be “disillusioned” by the results of their nomination process, and she also is a blank slate on non-economic issues (both a blessing and a curse, depending on how the slate gets filled).

Given the comments in both Matt’s and Amanda’s posts, I may as well collate a couple of earlier thoughts on why being John McCain’s VP nominee is the ultimate high-risk/high-reward. I’ve previously noted that, since 1956, the Republicans have gone to the next person in line. In order, that would be sitting President, sitting Vice President, second in the previous contested Presidential primary, an ex-Vice President, and family member. That is a pretty powerful argument to be the Vice Presidential nominee if McCain were to win in November.

Conversely, there is the fate of a Vice Presidential nominee on a losing ticket. I’ve also noted that only 4 times since the 12th Amendment separated the Presidential and Vice Presidential elections did a failed Vice Presidential candidate become a Presidential candidate. The last two who did so, and the only two in the “modern” era (post-22nd Amendment), had other extenuating circumstances. Walter Mondale was previously Vice President, and thus fell into the less-rigid Democratic version of the “next in line” scheme. Bob Dole had to wait until the two people in front of him each had their turn as the Presidential nominee, and then work to earn his own place in the Republican “next in line” scheme.

Polar opposites on phone taxes

by @ 11:28. Filed under Politics - Milwaukee, Politics - National, Taxes.

Just when I thought there were no real differences left in the two halves of the bipartisan Party-In-Government, Sen. and certain Republican Presidential nominee John McCain and the tag team of Milwaukee mayor John Norquist, Milwaukee County DA John Chisholm, and governor Jim “Craps” Doyle (WEAC/Potawatomi-For Sale) prove me wrong. First, the local ‘Rats from Sunday’s Journal Sentinel story:

Barrett, Milwaukee County District Attorney John Chisholm and Police Chief Edward Flynn are asking Gov. Jim Doyle and the Legislature to give municipalities control over the 911 telephone surcharge that is supposed to expire Nov. 30. They’re hoping to add that provision to the budget-repair bill now under consideration….

The surcharge on cellular telephone users was created in 2005 to cover the costs of technology to pinpoint the locations of cell phones during calls to the 911 emergency number. Montgomery said that technology has saved at least 15 lives statewide.

The fee started at 83 cents a month, rose to 92 cents in 2006 and then dropped this year to 43 cents.

But before the fee expires, Barrett wants lawmakers to authorize municipal governments to retain the surcharge and expand it to cover all telephones, including land lines provided by both telephone and cable companies. Milwaukee would be able to boost its charge to a maximum of $1 a month in 2009 and $1.50 a month in future years.

Revenue from the surcharge would help fund the emergency services that respond to 911 calls, a technique that city officials say is also used in Chicago, Baltimore, San Francisco and other major cities. At 50 cents a month, the surcharge would generate more than $2 million a year for Milwaukee, rising to $5.2 million for a $1 charge and $7.8 million for a $1.50 charge….

So, rather than find a way to cut $7.8 million from the bloated city budget, Milwaukee’s idiots want to raise taxes by radically expanding both in scope and amount upon something that is supposed to expire. Excuse me while I hurl, and note that these same Gorons want to keep the Miller Park tax past its supposed sunset date in 2014 so they could play with trains.

Revisions/extensions (4:42 pm 4/22/2008) – Fred notes in the comments there already is a 911 surcharge on landlines. That brings me to another reason why I hate these “small” and numerous charges; it’s all too easy to say, “Just a few shekels more for the chilrun/the elderly/the sick/the pooor/insert ‘disadvantaged’ group here.”

Meanwhile, McCain at least doesn’t like new taxes. From this morning’s Wall Street Journal:

Among the better ideas John McCain announced last week is a ban on new cellphone taxes. For America’s 257 million wireless subscribers, the GOP Presidential candidate is advancing a sensible policy with political punch.

A recent analysis by economist Scott Mackey in the journal State Tax Notes shows that the average monthly tax burden on wireless customers is more than 15% – double the average sales tax burden. In some states, such as New York (big surprise), the total tax bite is more than 20%.

If the pols were exercising even modest restraint, wireless consumers would now be enjoying a reduced tax bill. That’s because in 2006 the IRS stopped applying the Federal Excise Tax on Telecommunications to wireless services. The feds weren’t being generous. After the IRS suffered a series of defeats in federal court, then-Treasury Secretary John Snow ordered the bureaucrats to stop gouging consumers. The language of the law, passed in 1898 to fund the Spanish-American War and rewritten in the 1960s, clearly did not apply to today’s digital services.

But even though that 3% IRS levy has been knocked off the monthly bill, the overall cellphone tax burden is the same 15% it was in 2003. Increased Federal Communications Commission fees to underwrite universal service plus higher state taxes have offset the potential relief for consumers.

The WSJ editorial goes on to note there is a bipartisan (not Party-In-Government, surprisingly) propsal to put a moratorium on new cell phone taxes after listing a few other bizzare attempts by the PIGs to dig deeper into the pocketbook.

The Morning Scramble – 4/22/2008

by @ 7:46. Filed under The Morning Scramble.

Sorry about the lack of links yesterday; by the time I got back to the keyboard, I was toast.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8sF0bQBOsFM[/youtube]

– Jim Hoft has Hillary Clinton at her most Clintonesque. I need more popcorn.
– Curt notes Clinton will obliterate Iran. I wonder if her husband will be in the trenches.
– Mary Katharine Ham asks whether Barack Obama’s too nice to win. Er, MK, do I have to remind you of the clinging episode, or the fact that both you and I recognized early that we had to stop the Trotskyite?
– Charlie Sykes answers, “Nice? Obama? The folks across the pond don’t agree.”
– Lawhawk explains why Michael Moore the Hut thinks Obama is the perfect candidate.
– Back to Trotsky, Jim Hoft got an admission from the Bolivian President that the goal of the Gorebal “Warming” crowd is nothing less than the death of capitalism. Bonus bit; Evo Morales has the same sense of timing as High Priest Algore Goracle.
– Cuffy Meigs discovered the blog of an old friend of Obama’s. It’s explosive. </pun_bad>
– Brian Fraley details just how dysfunctional the Milwaukee County Board is. Side note; the 7 that voted against keeping Lee “Thug” Holloway as board chair had best watch their backs, there is a reason why I use that nickname.
– Kevin Fischer plays “Final Jeopardy” with the dumbest place to put sex offenders.
– Jo Egelhoff chastises Steve Kagen for not getting his facts straight (again).
– I was remiss in not pointing you to last week’s Blogs4Bauer strike replacement episode, but I won’t make that mistake again. Why? Dave Bauer considers torture a hobby.
– Jim Hoft has this week’s episode of the conversion of Britain to Britanistan to earn a triple shot.
– Michelle Malkin notes the coming of Sharia Standard Time.
– James T. Harris is raising his son right. He saw right through the Carter-Hamas charade.
– How much of a charade? Rusty Shackelford describes the hudna perfectly.
– Shoebox takes a well-aimed historical whack at the Peanut Farmer.
– Huckleberry Dumbbell has your Only Outside America headline of the week. Since when did the BBC not capitalize headlines?
– Charles Johnson has reason #452 why I tend not to have photographs of myself.

Jimmy and the definition of Legitimacy

by @ 7:00. Filed under Politics - National.

Jimmy Carter says that while he will talk with an organization that launches attacks against unarmed civilians and is listed as a group responsible for terrorist attacks by most western countries, Hamas, he doesn’t  “see any redeeming features” of another terrorist organization, Al Qaeda.  


I can’t seem to get the link to work correctly so here’s the low tech connection :   http://www.breitbart.tv/?p=81983

According to Jimmy, the difference between Hamas and Al Qaeda is that Hamas has the support of their constituents.   To Jimmy an elected  government is legitimate and should be accepted regardless of what it’s policies are.

Using Jimmy’s logic, Jimmy should also agree that the Civil war was unjust and just the North imposing it’s will on the South.   After all, the Confederate States of America had the support of its constituents.

If only Abraham Lincoln had had the benefit of Jimmy Carter’s logic the country could have avoided the war and the  loss  of 620,000 American lives.   It would have been so much better for everyone……except for the 4,000,000 slaves that were emancipated.

Revisions/extensions (10:59 am 4/22/2008; steveegg) – I think I’ve got the right embed code. Still, I like the folks at Breitbart, including the absent-from-blogging Ian Schwartz, who if memory serves is one of the main guys behind the TV version of Breitbart.

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