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 December, 2010

December 11, 2010

Politics of Envy and Greed

by @ 14:45. Filed under Politics - National, Taxes.

There really is no editorial required on these.  Simply listen to the statements of one admitted socialist and one member of the Democratic Socialists of America.  It’s not hard to understand that their real complaint about “tax cuts” is that no one’s money is their own.  Their belief is that all money, regardless of how it was gained, is the government’s to use as it sees fit.

See Bernie Sanders Here.

Keith Ellison

To both of them I say, “Bring it on!” I don’t like this deal either. Let’s let the tax rates increase and see what the American people have to say about it…..shall we?

Big Jim Slade takes over for impotent pose…er, President

by @ 8:52. Filed under Politics - National.

(H/T – JammieWearingFool)

The New York Post’s Charles Hurt dug out the apt reference from “Kentucky Fried Movie” after Bill Clinton took over for Barack Obama at a press conference designed to salvage Le Grande Compromise (which, in typical Washington fashion, got larded up with all sorts of pork, including a 1-year extension of corn-a-hole subsidies – H/T Michelle Malkin, to try to get recalcitrant House Democrats on board). Because it’s the weekend, I don’t have to give you the standard NSFW warning on the clip of Big Jim taking over…

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xQ96dy93mP0[/youtube]

Oh wait, that wasn’t Big S(l)ick. HERE’S Big S(l)ick Willie taking over (courtesy Daily Caller):

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

For those of you who doubted Jay Weber when he said that Teh Won doesn’t really want to be President, watch and weep.

Stripping away the histrionics – off the rails edition

by @ 6:54. Filed under Choo-choos, Politics - Wisconsin.

When one looks past the latest whining from those deeply saddened by the death of the Lobbyist HO Train that was going to run from Milwaukee to Madison, the bottom line becomes far less than what they claim:

  • Instead of building 6 trains (2 trains for the now-dead Lobbyist HO Train, 2 trains for the Hiawatha line between Milwaukee and Chicago, and 2 trains for an Oregon line) before shutting down the production line, Talgo will build 4 trains before shutting down the production line.
  • Instead of the maintenance facility maintaining 4 trains (the now-dead Lobbyist HO Trains and the Talgo-built trains for the Hiawatha line), the maintenance facility will maintain 2 trains (the Talgo-built trains for the Hiawatha line).

December 9, 2010

Munching Popcorn 12-9-10

by @ 19:25. Filed under Politics - National, Taxes.

Yesterday, Joe Biden tried to explain to the Democrat caucus why The Won caved on his tax promise.  He calmed their concerns by telling them there was no abiilty to change the deal.  There is no doubt that somewhere in his explanation Biden told the caucus that “This is a big f%$*ing deal!”

Today the Whitehouse released a video of Austan Goolsby doing a version of “Obama is smarter than you for dummies.”  Austan doesn’t have to worry about a call to join SNL anytime soon:

Following this fun, the Dems had a House Caucus meeting during which at least one member could be heard saying, “F&*^ the President.” Following that, reporters could hear “just say no” being chanted within the meeting room. At the end of the meeting, the caucus cast a voice vote to reject the tax compromise that President Obama caved on negotiated.

At the end of this, the bad news is we don’t know what is happening with tax rates yet.

The good news is that I’m getting much more “heart healthy” as I chow down on bucket after bucket of high fiber popcorn….non butter of course.

Today’s word – TriANGRYlation

by @ 15:19. Filed under Politics - National.

Mary Katharine Ham explains what it means…

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iCcV4cddqYI[/youtube]

By the way, the House Democrat caucus voted overwhelmingly against La Grande Compromise (just as predicted).

December 7, 2010

Orville Redenbacher Never Had It So Good

by @ 20:41. Filed under Politics - National.

It’s hard to know exactly how to respond to the “compromise” reached by Obama and the Republicans on extending the current tax rates.  On the one hand, it’s a lot of fun watching the lefties lose all hope and be willing to vote to change Obama.  In some ways, I fee sorry for them.  Their looks are probably similar to the looks many of us conservatives had as Bush talked about immigration amnesty or nominated Harriet Miers to the Supreme Court.  However, my pity doesn’t prevent me from wanting to get one of those big, refillable buckets of popcorn and watching the event.  Heck, I’ve even contemplated what conflagration grenade Boehner or McConnell could toss in so that we could watch a full meltdown!

On the other hand I think, “what a missed opportunity!”  Obama was in a no win situation.  He knew that if he didn’t get a deal done now, the new Congress would have enough votes and public support, to extend the rates, perhaps permanently.  In that case, he would have the choice of vetoing the bill and dealing with that public relations mess or signing it and putting a permanent “don’t mind me” stamp on his forehead.  For that reason, I am challenged by the Republicans agreement to extend the unemployment benefits.  It’s going to be a long two years if this is how Boehner and McConnell do political calculating.

I don’t know what the exact reason was; attempt to gain favor with Obama, concern about public relations or sheer miscalculation but the Republicans could have gotten their tax rate extension with nothing added to it.  In fact, if Obama had pressed the issue of the unemployment benefits and assuming that the Republicans weren’t willing to face the stand off for principle, they should have made a counter offer.  In exchange for the increased unemployment, Obama would immediately remove all drilling moratoriums he had put in place.  The Republicans explanation, after all of the sputtering, would be that the unemployment extension was unfunded.  Nancy Pelosi herself has been telling us for two years how we should work on a “pay-go” basis.  While the best situation would have been to cut spending in the budget so the benefits would be deficit neutral, the second best option would be to remove the moratoriums which would have multiple benefits.  First, it would actually do something to increase employment, as opposed to the nothing but talk that Obama does about the topic.  Second, if you haven’t noticed, oil and gas prices have been going up again.  Folks, we haven’t even seen the US with much more then a faint economic pulse.  If/when the economy becomes a last mile of a marathon, heart pounding rate, the demand for oil is going to push gas well past the $4 mark.  Oh, and more expensive energy means more expensive food and more expensive other things.

The Republicans could have gotten more, much more for their deal.  That said, I hear the microwave beeping.  I think my first bucket of popcorn is ready.  Who’s head would you bet will explode first?

Doing the Wave!

by @ 19:34. Filed under Health Care Reform, Politics - National.

Jamie Dupree is reporting that the waivers from provisions of Placebocare continue to roll up on shore.

The Obama Administration has quietly granted even more waivers to one provision of the new federal health reform law, doubling the number in just the last three weeks to a new total of 222.

Amongst the new grantees are Waffle House and Universal Orlando.

These new grantees bring a particularly poignant irony to the debate over the merits of Placebocare.

In the case of both Waffle House and Universal Orlando, the companies were providing “mini-med” insurance policies. These policies cover medical conditions similar to how other major medical plans provide coverage. They differ from traditional plans in that they have an annual maximum that is typically much lower than a traditional plan. By providing a lower maximum payout, insurance companies are able to mitigate risk they would have on these plans. If they have less risk, it costs them less to provide the coverage. If it costs them less, they are able to charge lower premiums.

If you remember, among the various reasons we were told that Placebocare was required was that there were many, many people who didn’t have insurance and that market forces were unable to provide for these people. In the case of both Waffle House and Universal Orlando (as well as other companies like McDonald’s) they were providing insurance options for people who traditionally have few insurance options; part time workers. However, Placebocare, in its attempt to force compliance on all, mandates that insurance policies can no longer have any annual or lifetime caps on coverage. The result is that without the exemption, companies like Waffle House and Universal Orlando would no longer be able to offer their current coverage which would mean that their employees would have no coverage at all.

Oh, those mean employers! I mean, who would want a policy that has a smaller annual cap? Who wouldn’t want a cadillac plan? Young, part time workers, that’s who. Think about it. Young people are typically the healthiest amongst us. They don’t tend to get major major illnesses which are what drive the high annual or lifetime caps. However, being young and especially if they are part time workers, even a single medical issue like a broken bone, could cause them severe financial challenges. In the competitive world of labor, Waffle House, Universal Orlando, McDonalds and others saw this need and in order to obtain and maintain quality talent, found a market based solution to solve the problem. A market based solution that would no longer exist without the waiver and will no longer exist after the year waiver is up!

Hey, wait. I thought we could keep our coverage if we liked it?

Wednesday Hot Read – Nathan Gonzales’ “Russ Couldn’t Re-Create ’92 Magic”

by @ 18:39. Filed under Politics - National, Politics - Wisconsin.

(H/T – Kevin Binversie, whose critique is also worth reading, and not just because he was on the Ron Johnson campaign)

Where do I begin with the teaser for Nathan Gonzales’ post-mortem on Roll Call? I’ll go with the section titled The Redefinition of Russ:

“We zoned in on those two things and had the ammunition from the last two years with Obama,” said Johnson’s media consultant, Curt Anderson, Wes Anderson’s brother, who worked at the National Republican Senatorial Committee in 1992 when Feingold defeated Kasten.

Curt Anderson said the Johnson team believed Feingold’s independence was based on some “inconsequential votes.”…

But in an election in which voters were most concerned about the economy, Republicans focused on Feingold’s votes for the $787 billion economic stimulus bill, health care reform and Obama’s budget.

Democrats admit that instead of rewriting history and distorting Feingold’s record, Republicans were able to focus on what they believe he is now. By the end of the race, Feingold’s greatest strength was sapped.

It also helped us (and didn’t help the Democrats) that, much like the Republicans 4 years earlier, they refused to believe they were in serious trouble. From Kevin:

Out in DC last week, I had more than a few conversations with friends and a few web journalists (Off-the-record in those cases) who covered the race on the road with the Feingold campaign. Many of them told me they were amazed at how Democrats in Wisconsin were unwilling to accept the bad environment in front of them [Slate’s Dave Weigel personally told me out-going State Senator Pat Kreitlow (D-Chippewa Falls) told him he was going to win his race. On Election night, Kreitlow lost to Terry Moulton 54% to 46%.].

Arrogance plus liberalism kills politically.

Never forget – Pearl Harbor, 1941

by @ 16:55. Filed under History.

69 years ago today, the Imperial Japanese Navy attacked the United States Navy base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii and several other American possessions in the Pacific, plunging the US into an active role in World War II. Never forget…

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9uCGxk-v-Mc[/youtube]

Elizabeth Edwards passes away

by @ 16:19. Filed under Breaking news.

Raleigh news station WRAL reports this afternoon that Elizabeth Edwards has passed away from her six year battle with breast cancer:

Chapel Hill, N.C. — Elizabeth Edwards, the political wife whose public battle with breast cancer, coping with marital infidelity and continued advocacy for the downtrodden raised her profile above that of her husband, died Tuesday, WRAL News has learned. She was 61.

Edwards died at her Chapel Hill home, where family and friends had gathered in recent days after doctors informed her that her cancer had spread and recommended that she not undergo further treatment.

Edwards was first diagnosed with cancer in the waning days of the 2004 presidential campaign, when her husband, then-U.S. Sen. John Edwards, was the Democratic nominee for vice president. The couple didn’t disclose her illness until after the election.

The cancer went into remission after surgery and months of treatment, but it resurfaced in early 2007, as John Edwards was mounting a second run at the White House. The Edwardses agreed at the time that they wouldn’t allow the cancer to derail his candidacy.

Because the cancer had moved into her bones, her doctors said at that time that it was no longer curable but could be treated.

Read the rest for a write-up of who Elizabeth Edwards was beyond being the ex-wife of John Edwards.

It’s no secret at my blog that I absolutely despise John Edwards with a passion and have since well before it was revealed that he was cheating on his cancer-stricken wife, and I never agreed with Elizabeth Edwards about politics, but I certainly did not wish on her any ill will. My thoughts and prayers are with her surviving three children (her fourth child, Wade, was killed in a Jeep accident in 1996), and other family members and friends at this difficult time.

RIP.

Cross-posted from the Sister Toldjah blog at the request of @steveegg.

Tuesday Hot Read – Daniel J. Mitchell’s “The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly”

by @ 11:49. Filed under Politics - National, Taxes.

The Cato Institute’s Daniel J. Mitchell pretty much summed up my initial take on Le Grande Compromise between Obama and the Republicans on tax rates and unemployment benefits:

Compared to ideal policy, the deal announced last night between congressional Republicans and President Obama is terrible.

Compared to what I expected to happen, the deal announced last night is pretty good.

Point of order – there currently is no guarantee that Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid, who weren’t exactly involved in the negotiations, are going to let this pass. I believe the applicable term when (I don’t believe it’s a matter of “if) this falls apart and all of the Clinton tax rates return full-force will be “poison pill”. Teh Won will bite his lower lip and whimper out, “I never tried so hard for anything as a middle-class tax cut” (if that sounds familiar, it should – that was what the last Democrat President said).

Even if this is a genuine and doable compromise, it’s essentially a punt into 2012 for everything except the reinstated death tax (at 35% with the first $3.5 million exempt for 2 years, compared to the previously-imminent (and now merely delayed until after 2012) 41%/$1 million exempt to 55%-beyond-$3 million), another 13 months of extended unemployment benefits (it’s still at the 99-week limit instead of 26 weeks), and the 1-year 16% reduction in the FICA tax (a reduction of the employee portion from 6.2% to 4.2%, in exchange for allowing the Make Work Pay tax credit). For the sake of argument, let’s look at the three:

  • The Death Tax returns – The number one killer of family businesses is back. Let me put it this way – that money was already taxed once (or in the case of unrealized capital gains, will be taxed when said gain is realized) – the government has no right to a second taxation that is at a higher marginal rate than the first taxation just because one died.
  • Extending unemployment benefits – Did the POR (Pelosi-Obama-Reid) Economy put you out of work? No problem – your 2011 can be as work-free as 2010 was. We’ll just borrow from the Red Chinese so you don’t have to worry about getting a job until 2012.
  • The 1-year FICA tax reduction – This is actually better than the old Subsidize Low-Paying Jobs welfare plan. If you work, you’ll get 2% more on your paycheck. So what if SocSecurity runs a cash deficit again? It was going to be in the red anyway (seriously, this has a less-than-6-month effect on the SocSecurity fund-exhaustion dates).

December 5, 2010

Food police officers Barack and Michelle: Do as I say, not as I do

by @ 20:34. Filed under Miscellaneous.

Here are some of the key ingredients for this entry:


cheese·burg·er  (chzbûrgr)

n. A hamburger topped with melted cheese.

The above is the Frenchie burger from the NY restaurant, DBGB.

obesity   (-bs-t)

n. The condition of being obese; increased body weight caused by excessive accumulation of fat.

gar·den  (gärdn)  n. A plot of land used for the cultivation of flowers, vegetables, herbs, or fruit.

The above garden is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington D.C. 

hyp·o·crite  (hp-krt)

n. A person who professes beliefs and opinions that he or she does not hold in order to conceal his or her real feelings or motives.

hyp·o·crite  (hp-krt)

n. A person who professes beliefs and opinions that he or she does not hold in order to conceal his or her real feelings or motives.America, you don’t eat right.

Barack and Michelle Obama, the two leaders of the federal government’s food police, have lectured us to death.

We will show you how to eat properly.

We will tell you what to eat.

We will tell you what not to eat.

Restaurant owners, we will tell you what to serve.

Restaurant owners, we will tell you what not to serve.

We will set the rules and you will follow them or government bureaucrats will make you suffer.

The complete and utter condescension has been sickening.

The Obama’s have become the quintessential spokespeople for the phrase, “Do as I say, not as I do.”

Last year, the New York Times reminded us, “As President Obama ran for office, whenever questions of his ordinary-man credentials arose, his aides were quick to say that he loves a good burger. As he worked to win over male voters, a stop at a beer joint would suddenly be on his itinerary. But when the cameras weren’t rolling, he was just as likely to have a healthy plate of sea bass and steamed vegetables as a burger and fries.”

The newspaper noted Obama’s cholesterol had jumped 42 points since 2007. Press Secretary Robert Gibbs told White House reporters, ”You guys think he eats carrots and celery. There’s more cheeseburgers, fries and pie than you previously knew.”

How could this be? After all, the First Lady took on America’s girth as her persoanl crusade, going so far as to plant a veggie garden to promote all heathy items green and orange.

The British press asked the obvous question: What would Michelle say? (We also learn the Obamessiah isn’t exactly a terrific tipper).

So, Barack isn’t following his wife’s advice. One could argue the president is allowed because Mrs. Obama doesn’t practice what she preaches.

On March 11, 2009, the website Listicles.com suggested five foods Michelle Obama should banish for American diets. Sure enough, burgers made the list, and that would seem to follow the First Lady’s emphasis on vegetables rather than meat.  A month later, the Associated Press shockingly reported that, for shame, Michelle sneaks out for burgers.It gets better.

Last August, Mrs. Obama visted the Good Stuff Eatery in Washington D.C. with daughters Malia and Sasha where they dined on cheeseburgers, fries, and shakes. The New York Post reported, “Fellow patrons had their cellphones temporarily confiscated to prevemt pictures from being taken. Nope. Can’t have photos floating around of the queen of carrots and peas chomping down on a juicy, fat-laden burger. 

This past October, while campaigning for Russ Feingold, Mrs.Obama stopped at Miss Katies Diner in Milwaukee and ordered a cheeseburger. Apparently forgetting she was in America’s Dairyland, she eschewed a milkshake.

Washington’s radical attempt to reform America’s diet isn’t working. A recent Gallup poll shows that we are not stupid. Most of us understand the value of healthy eating and can easily find affordable fresh produce.

NEWS FLASH to the food police: We just don’t want to eat it. We eat what we want to eat because we live in what is still a free country. What a concept!

No one is suggesting that the Obama’s should never indulge in a greasy burger. However, if they’re not going to lead by example, they need to tone down their pontificating and over-regulation.

But they won’t.

A new book contains an anecdote about the all-knowing Calorie Counter-in-Chief counseling an overweight staffer that he will eat a salad and like it.  

hy·poc·ri·sy (h-pkr-s)

n.
1. The practice of professing beliefs, feelings, or virtues that one does not hold or possess; falseness.
2. An act or instance of such falseness.

It’s run amok at the White House.

WOW!

There couldn’t possibly be more, Kev, could there?

It couldn’t possibly get any better, could it?

It could and it does.

(Cross posted at FranklinNOW.com.)

Recommended Reading (12/05/10)

by @ 20:13. Filed under Miscellaneous.

Here are, in my view, interesting, noteworthy columns and articles from the past week that I highly recommend (You will note that on occasion, I do not endorse the opinions of the author and may point that out. Despite my disagreements, I still feel the piece is worth a read).


Fall reckoning

“Before the vote on Nov. 2, humorist P.J. O’Rourke quipped that it wasn’t an election, it was a restraining order. For Democrats in Wisconsin it was an apocalypse. They lost the governorship; a Senate seat; two congressional seats; both houses of the state Legislature, and, just to run up the score, the office of state treasurer to a guy who ran on a platform of abolishing the job.”

Girls just wanna have guns

“I have a dream! 

A dream where instead of reading about a cute college coed left dead and naked out in a vacant lot or bloated and floating in a river, the story reads: ‘dead jackass found double-tapped and dead on the curb as his soul wings its way to Hades—all because he messed with the wrong mama’.”

Naked Truth

“According to the  Transportation Security Administration, Americans have no problem with the new airport screening procedures. So they should stop complaining.

That self-contradictory reassurance, which would be unnecessary if it were true, seemed slightly more plausible after chaos failed to ensue from protests by Thanksgiving travelers who refused to walk through the TSA’s full-body scanners last week. But there are reasons to question the TSA’s portrait of placid passengers happily baring all for the sake of homeland security.”

What is not being discussed in the groping debate

“It doesn’t seem to me that wanting to get from point A to Point B by flying the friendly skies provides probable cause to justify doing a virtual strip search of a person…or doing a combat pat down of what we USED to call suspects when justifying the search…

All because Mohamed Atta and a group of America hating murderers decided to destroy this nation and everything she stands for by flying planes into buildings? (Maybe they succeeded in doing far more than they believed possible that day given what we’ve surrendered as a result?).

So…Here’s the 800lb TSA Agent in the room everyone is missing.”

Why this fear of a civility pledge?

“It’s only 32 words. Yet, only two sitting members of Congress or governors have signed the civility pledge. So what was it about civility that all the other 537 elected officials couldn’t agree to? Read it and decide for yourself.”

Joe Scarborough tells GOP to confront Palin

“Republicans have a problem. The most-talked-about figure in the GOP is a reality show star who cannot be elected. And yet the same leaders who fret that Sarah Palin could devastate their party in 2012 are too scared to say in public what they all complain about in private. Enough. It’s time for the GOP to man up.”
KF NOTE: I found Scarborough’s views too harsh and off-base, but the article is still interesting.

Is NPR for sale?  

“It seems George Soros, sugar daddy of 1,001 leftish crusaders, personal hobbyhorses, and even some good causes, has just given NPR $1.8 million to hire a hundred new reporters.

Some commentators on the state of the American media, formerly the American press, are shocked, shocked! Others aren’t. Inquiring minds want to know if this is a scandal, just philanthropy, a menacing portent for the independence of American journalism, or all of the above.”

The care and feeding of progressives

“I’ve had to ask readers of my blog to register in order to post comments.  There are three reasons why: 

  1. Trolls 
  2. Trolls 
  3. Trolls

When I started my little blog, it didn’t occur to me that trolls would come out in droves.  Why would leftists expend their energies on me? And why would they subject themselves to scrutiny by a licensed psychotherapist?

But apparently, numerous trolls have been drawn to me, like venomous bees to honey. These trolls use the same weaponry of other extreme progressives: shame and degradation. They try to use ridicule as sort of stun gun, immobilizing the other.”

December 4, 2010

“Somebody” will profit handsomely from Government Motors – revisited

by @ 0:37. Tags:
Filed under Business.

When I took a look at this last week, I forgot a rather-significant item – the transfer of the existing internal VEBA assets from Government Motors (which “inherited” it from Old GM) to the UAW’s control. While GM’s 2009 annual report mentioned several times that this transfer happened, the actual amount was mentioned only once. $12.6 billion went to the UAW in early 2010 (the timing is not known – the annual report says it happened within 10 days of 12/31/2009, and the SEC does not appear to have a separate record in EDGAR). The internal VEBA assets were actually part of the $20.56 billion Old GM owed the VEBA (see page 36 of the Congressional Oversight Panel’s September 2009 report, and do note the typographical error in the footnote).

Also, the “IPO” underwriters fully-exercised their option to buy an additional 13.35 million common shares from the UAW. That netted another $437 million for the UAW, with like amounts going into the Treasury and the Canadian government.

Adding those two amounts to the $3.56 billion in cash previously disclosed brings the amount recovered to date by the UAW to $16.6 billion. That means I grossly understated the profit the UAW is going to make from driving GM into bankruptcy. If GM survives as an entity until the middle of 2017, makes its note payments to the UAW, and buys back the preferred stock as soon as it can, the UAW will receive $29.79 billion (or if you will, almost $1.45 for every $1.00 Old GM owed it) before it sells any additional common stock. In fact, the UAW will profit if GM either makes the first of the note payments in 2013 and buys back the preferred stock at the end of 2014 or makes the first two note payments in 2013 and 2015 and just the dividend payments on the preferred stock – again, no common-stock sale required.

Side note – that $12.6 billion is a shocking number because it had been anticipated that only about $10 billion would be available in internal VEBA assets. Indeed, the internal VEBA assets at Old GM amounted to only $10.0 billion on 12/31/2008, and the agreement between Government Motors and the UAW specifying the terms of transfer valued the assets at $9.4 billion as of March 31, 2009. If that is a legitimate increase, I want whoever was in charge of that in charge of my portfolio.

Revisions/extensions (8:03 am 12/4/2010) – I really need to keep on top of the SEC filings. The VEBA note was paid off on October 26 to the tune of $2.8 billion. That does wipe out the future principal and interest payments that I had commented on earlier, bringing the all-but-guaranteed recovery (pre-common-stock-sale, assuming GM makes it to the end of 2014 and buys back all the preferred stock at that point) down to $28.39 billion. However, it also brings the total recovery-to-date of the $20.57 billion Old GM owed the UAW to $19.4 billion. That means that, assuming Government Motors continues to make the payments on the preferred stock the UAW holds, the UAW will turn a profit on driving Old GM to bankruptcy on December 15, 2011.

December 3, 2010

Who had the Milwaukee Problem?

by @ 19:42. Filed under Politics - Wisconsin.

Some outstate pundits infamously claimed right after the primary that Scott Walker was a historically-weak candidate outstate. Now that the election has been certified by the Government Accountability Board, and the county-level results are official, let’s take another look at the tape.

Statewide, Walker took 52.25% of the 2,160,832 votes cast, while Tom Barrett took 46.48% (or a 5.77-percentage-point win). After taking Columbia County and all the counties south and east of there (Dane, Dodge, Jefferson, Kenosha, Milwaukee, Ozaukee, Racine, Rock, Walworth, Waukesha and Washington Counties) out of the totals, Walker’s margin among the 1,015,729 voters increased to a 55.14%-43.17% advantage (or a 11.97-point win). Even if one excludes Fond du Lac and Sheboygan Counties, which are at best marginally-attached to southeast Wisconsin, Walker’s outstate margin is still 54.36%-43.89% (or a 10.47-point win).

Only if one gave Barrett the Democrat strongholds of Dane and Rock County (and Walker the bare win in Columbia County) does the margin get close. Without Sheboygan and Fond du Lac Counties counted as “southeast Wisconsin”, Walker won by 2.87 percentage points. Counting Sheboygan and Fond du Lac Counties to include the entirety of the Milwaukee media market reduced the Walker win to 1.10 percentage points.

Let’s compare that to Mark Green’s performance in 2006 against Jim Doyle, who is from supposedly-equally-reviled Madison. Doyle carried the state by 7.39 percentage points, the counties except Columbia and those south and east by 5.28 points, the parts of Wisconsin outside the “core” southeast part of the state by 12.05 points, and the parts of Wisconsin outside the entire Milwaukee media market by 13.60 points.

It looks like not only didn’t Scott Walker have the “Milwaukee Problem” Tom Barrett did, but he significantly outperformed Mark Green outstate.

Was Chad Lee a “bad” candidate? – revisited

by @ 18:26. Filed under Elections, Politics - Wisconsin.

Right after the November election, UW student Todd Stevens asserted so, and I retorted using the AP’s countywide numbers. On Wednesday, the Government Accountability Board certified the results and, more-importantly, released the ward-by-ward data. For those who don’t remember, the 2nd Congressional District, which incumbent Democrat Tammy Baldwin defeated Chad Lee by a 61.77%-38.16% margin (with the remainder writing in somebody), covers all of Columbia, Dane and Green Counties, significant parts of Jefferson, Rock and Sauk Counties, and almost the entirety of the part of Whitewater that is in Walworth County.

Meanwhile, Republican Scott Walker (and his running mate as lieutenant governor, Rebecca Kleefisch) beat Democrat Tom Barrett (and his running mate, Tom Nelson) by a statewide 52.25%-46.48% margin, with the remainder either voting for a couple other candidates who qualified for the ballot or writing somebody in. With that background, let’s take a county-by-partial-county look at how Walker did versus how Lee did:

  • Columbia County (whole county, 21,385 votes in the gubernatorial election and 21,149 votes in the Congressional election) – Walker 51.71%/Barrett 46.83%, Lee 52.93%/Baldwin 47.01%. Advantage – Lee by 1.03 percentage points.
  • Dane County (whole county, 220,273 votes in the gubernatorial election and 218,865 votes in the Congressional election) – Barrett 67.96%/Walker 30.98%, Baldwin 66.56%/Lee 33.38%. Advantage – Lee by 3.80 percentage points.
  • Green County (whole county, 13,187 votes in the gubernatorial election and 13,227 votes in the Congressional election) – Barrett 49.00%/Walker 48.46%, Baldwin 51.03%/Lee 48.92%. Advantage – Walker by 0.78 percentage points.
  • Jefferson County (just the portion in the 2nd Congressional District, 18,194 votes in the gubernatorial election, 18,005 votes in the Congressional election) – Walker 54.45%/Barrett 43.98%, Lee 52.24%/Baldwin 47.66%. Advantage – Walker by 5.90 percentage points.
  • Rock County (just the portion in the 2nd Congressional District, 23,657 votes in the gubernatorial election, 23,606 votes in the Congressional election) – Barrett 53.07%/Walker 45.01%, Baldwin 53.18%/Lee 46.79%. Advantage – Lee by 1.68 percentage points.
  • Sauk County (just the portion in the 2nd Congressional District, 11,228 votes in the gubernatorial election, 11,262 votes in the Congressional election) – Barrett 51.41%/Walker 47.13%, Baldwin 51.52%/Lee 48.42%. Advantage – Lee by 1.18 percentage points.
  • Walworth County (city of Whitewater specifically, 3,377 votes in the gubernatorial election, 3,346 votes in the Congressional election) – Barrett 52.09%/Walker 46.14%, Baldwin 55.77%/Lee 44.11%. Advantage – Walker by 5.70 percentage points.

The bottom line:

Out of 311,301 total votes in the gubernatorial election, Barrett beat Walker by a 62.44%-36.33% margin. Meanwhile, out of 309,460 total votes in the Congressional election, Baldwin beat Lee by a 61.77%-38.16% margin. By my math, Lee did better than Walker by 2.50 percentage points, and I don’t hear anybody (other than the sore losers on the far left) calling Walker a “bad” candidate. I’m sorry to have to break the bad news to Stevens that the 2nd District will elect a Democrat as long as the district has roughly its current borders.

Landmines abound in the parting gift to AFSCME from Doyle

by @ 9:20. Filed under Politics - Wisconsin.

The MacIver Institute obtained several documents relating to the contract being negotiated by the soon-to-be-departed Doyle administration and AFSCME, which the soon-to-be-departed Democrat leaders in the Legislature want to vote on as they head out the door. The three documents released thus far, language adjustments, overtime changes, and health insurance changes, show that it is more of a extended middle finger than the “no-increase” portrayal by Doyle and the media. I’ll let the MacIver Institute summarize the effects of what’s been released thus far:

A first-blush, cursory look at these documents reveal a few things:

1) These employees maintain their lavish retirement and health benefits with only a modest increase in their share of health care costs.

2) Much of the language here appears to empower employees with greater authority regarding staffing decisions, transfers, etc. Tying the hands of the employer to determine who works where is never beneficial to the employer. As a Wisconsin taxpayer, remember, YOU are the employer.

3) Anticipating cuts and the most senior employees transferring to lower paying jobs to avoid job losses, there is a sick leave conversion that could be costly. Rather than allowing employees to convert their sick leave credits based on their hourly wage at the time of retirement, the conversion will be based on the highest base pay rate earned in state service. So if someone retires at a wage less than what they made years ago, their accrued sick leave will be converted at their highest base pay.

4) The overall costs regarding changes in transfer and layoff procedures in all these contracts is not known. This could limit the cost savings of trimming the state workforce. We hope the Joint Committee on Employment Relations will obtain answers to these questions before voting to approve the tentative agreements.

Roll bloat – taking off the muzzle

by @ 8:31. Filed under The Blog.

A friend of the blog, Justin Higgins, has made his return to blogging with No Muzzle Politics. How good is this prodigy? Back in his teens, he was being cited by Rush Limbaugh. In fact, his only fault is that he’s attending Ohio State (well, he is a native Ohioan).

Now, go and put his blog in your reader.

December 2, 2010

The Morning Scramble – tagline edition

by @ 11:56. Filed under The Morning Scramble.

I need content, but I’m not feeling very inspired (well, beyond a quick tagline or two). Guess it’s time to bring back old faithful…

  • Rick Moran found that TARP didn’t stop at America’s borders. This news is brought to you by TARP – Smothering economies worldwide since 2008
  • Related – Stephan Tawney has the comment of the day regarding the upcoming US taxpayer bailout of the European Union:

    Because we can afford to bailout a collective of welfare states that generally despise us and everything for which we stand. A collective of welfare states which was told for quite some time that it couldn’t afford to support everyone from cradle to grave. Because we can afford that. Or something.

    This link is brought to you by the EU – Ours is not to reason why; ours is to borrow and die.

  • Tom McMahon distilled the dichotomy of the messages of TV Christmas specials and the commercials that run during them. This 4-Block is brought to you by Ironies-R-Us – When you absolutely, positively need a message muddled in 30 seconds or less.
  • Tom Blumer blasts the Romneybots who would rather see another 4 years of Obama than anybody but the guy who wrote the playbook for PlaceboCare. This backstab is brought to you by Next-In-Line Waffles – We’ve replaced Arizona Guacamole with Massachusetts Maple, and you will lik…cough…choke on it.
  • CDR Salamander asks the salient question after hearing the news that there is no way to get a replacement engine for the F-35C (that would be the US Navy version of the Lightning II) out to a current-class carrier further out than about 250 miles from the nearest friendly port. This Charlie-Foxtrot is brought to you by the Robert McNamara Memorial NAVAIR – Using your tax dollars to make everything commonly bad.
  • Jim Geraghty has the following tagline covered after Teh Won ordered one of his overweight minions to eat a salad – This PSA is brought to you by Chris Christie for President: Because the commander-in-chief and leader of the free world should never be telling you to eat a @#$%^ salad.
  • Jeremy Shown schools a UW PoliSci prof on what the federal government is supposed to do when the voters say, “Stop spending!”. This lesson is brought to you by PoliSci Crackers – It goes with Government Cheese.
  • Bonus Jeremy – He notes the Red Chinese are looking at giving up on high-speed rail. This newscast is brought to you by D-Railing – A dime is better than $810 million.
  • Dad29 is buying oil futures in countries other than the US after Interior Secretary Ken “Lock ’em up” Salazar locked up all offshore drilling for the next 2 years, and everything except the western Gulf of Mexico the next 7. This gallon of gas is brought to you by Lincoln and the Two Washingtons – You’ll need both of us, and not in metallic form either.
  • No Sheeples breaks out the awesomeness that is XM25 Counter Defilade Target Engagement System, now being used to send Al-Qaeda to their 72 virgin demons. This shot is brought to you by the Military-Industrial Complex – Providing the means to deal with America’s enemies with extreme prejudice.

There’s a whole out more out there, but if I continued, it would be The Afternoon Scramble.

RWN’s Blogger’s Choice – Conservative of the Year

by @ 8:46. Filed under Conservatism.

John Hawkins kicked off the year-end awards with a bunch of us right-of-center bloggers choosing the Conservative of the Year award. Out of the following list of 20 picked by John, the members of the panel picked between 1 and 3 in an unranked order:

  • Dick Armey/Matt Kibbe
  • Michele Bachmann
  • Haley Barbour
  • Glenn Beck
  • Andrew Breitbart
  • John Boehner
  • David Bossie
  • Jan Brewer
  • Scott Brown
  • Chris Christie
  • Jim DeMint
  • Mike Duncan/Karl Rove/Ed Gillespie
  • Erick Erickson
  • Pamela Geller
  • Bobby Jindal
  • Sarah Palin
  • Tim Phillips/Phil Kerpen
  • Marco Rubio
  • Paul Ryan
  • Allen West

I’ll make you go over to Right Wing News to see the surprise winner and 5 of the other top 7, but I’ll explain my choices here:

  • Paul Ryan (who is in the top 7) – Call me a homer if you must, but I’ve been a Ryan supporter even before redistricting put Oak Creek into the 1st Congressional District. John’s profile: “This congressman from Wisconsin became a conservative sensation because of his Roadmap for America’s Future, which was re-released in 2010.”
  • Erick Erickson – Despite RedState hitting the big time and himself joining CNN as a commentator, Erick continues to take a no-compromises approach. I’ll start with today’s piece pointing out that the Senate “Republicans” didn’t need to cave on START in order to get promises of a temporary continuation of the Bush tax rates.
  • Tim Phillips/Phil Kerpen – When one’s organization (Americans for Prosperity) is targeted by name by Teh Won multiple times, you know it’s effective.
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