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.
Revisions/extensions (8:52 pm 5/20/2008) – I apologize to those expecting video here. I did not know how long speeches would last, or whether I’d be able to offload the speeches from my camera in time in between speeches, so I simply took a couple pictures while my digital voice recorder caught the audio.
I’m a bit late because I had to head back to the bunker overnight, but I’m back in town. Owen had me covered though. Troy Fullerton is also in the room.
I missed out on the row with the power strip, so I’ll have to be brief with my updates. A brief word on the suites last night, Scott Walker’s Milwaukee-themed suite was the best-decorated, while Paul Ryan’s/John Gard’s suite won for best food (stuffed mushrooms and tasty meatballs).
The promised Gard speech will be up shortly.
I’ll have the John Gard speech audio up tomorrow; it takes too long to pull the audio off the recorder, and the hospitality suites (followed by a long drive home; I have a couple things to take care of back at the bunker) are calling.
Minnesota governor Tim Pawlenty speaks to the county chairs
RPW chair Reince Priebus speaks to the county chairs 5/16/2008
Click the pic of the van to head to the collection. I’ll be updating it between today and tomorrow, so do keep on checking back.
The only bloggers actually blogging (besides me) are the WisPolitics team of Andy Szal, Greg Bump and JR Ross. Still, the blogosphere is pretty well represented in the delegates:
– Jo Egelhoff of Fox Politics, who’s running for the 57th Assembly seat.
– Kathy Carpenter of Stepping Right Up.
– Brandon Henak of GOP3.
I’m terrible with names and faces, and I doubt I’ve seen everybody.
I know Gov. Doyle signed it already with some veto messages, but I figured I may as well grab both sides of the Republican divide on the budget repair bill. Rep. Robin Vos voted for it, while Rep. Bill Kramer voted against.
Any pros care to give me pointers? :-)
– WisPolitics is here, and they saw fit to link to me. Robin Vos thought he saw Owen pull up while we had lunch.
– The tables for all the side groups are starting to fill up. Of course, Americans for Prosperity is here. The College Republicans are right next to them. There’s a table selling “Thank President Bush” items.
– The first interviews were with Reps. Robin Vos and Bill Kramer on the budget repair bill. Audio should be up once I finish uploading and converting it to mp3.
The good and bad so far…
Good – Despite a significant deputy/trooper presence, I made it in just over 2 hours.
Bad – I didn’t get in until after 1.
Good – The media credentials were ready, and the wireless is working.
Bad – The media room isn’t ready yet.
Good – We’ll have official availability of both Tim Pawlenty and Mike Duncan.
Since I’m drawing off the battery right now, that’s about it. Time to wander the halls and see who’s around.
I’m already half-brain-dead, so let’s have Joe Walsh finish the job…
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i9-uniiNuiM[/youtube]
The forecast as I type this (Wednesday night) doesn’t look promising for the original plan for baseball-then-dinner. Worse, I’ve already paid for the ticket. At least there’s a bit of good news; Favazza’s has a lunch menu, and the hour-by-hour forecast suggests it should start breaking up by 6. With that, I’ll still take the Flatland driving tips from Max and friends…
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H6Vw402IaII[/youtube]
By the time you see this, I’ll be on the road. I may or may not update the Twitter, but that’ll be about the only way to get a hold of me (unless I decide different).
Revisions/extensions/bump from the original post date/time of 5/12/2008 at 8:51 pm (10:37 pm 5/14/2008) – I’m still looking for a few more good questions for the RPW convention.
A couple of housekeeping items:
– Since I will have my credentials waiting for me in Stevens Point, I’m now taking suggestions of what to ask various political types at the RPW convention.
– That poll on the left side asking whether I should try for the national convention will be closing closed at 6:30 pm Tuesday night. The window to apply for the national convention credentials will close on Thursday. I decided to put in.
(H/T – The FReepers)
That’s right. The Department of the Interior is putting the polar bear on the threatened species list not because their numbers are going down, but because they’ve bought into the Algore Goracle sect of Gorebal Warming.
It’s time to resurrect an old favorite from the dead….
Rather-extensive revisions/extensions (4:40 pm 5/14/2008) – Mary Katharine Ham thoughfully collated some examples of heavy-hitting commentary:
Given that all three candidates are Gorebal Warming acolytes, this steaming pile of horseshit is only the beginning.
I’m trying to recover from Drinking Right, and I’m in the middle of putting Vista SP1 on the main desktop (can’t get the laptop to recognize that SP1’s out there)…
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NVF-0JKLnd4[/youtube]
Time to switch to the backup machine so I can let the black box of death choke on the upgrade.
That would be the bipartisan Party-In-Government for those new to this place. I just got an e-mail from Team McCain touting the green section of the John McCain store.
If I didn’t have a Drinking Right to go to, I’d explore why the cap-and-trade scheme is just as odious as the ‘Rat command-and-conquer scheme. That’ll have to wait until tomorrow.
Albert Einstein’s definition of insanity – “doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.”
Germantown school board – Let’s try that $16.5 Taj Mahal elementary school referendum that failed by 10 points again with absolutely, positively no changes again in November
(H/T – a semi-retired Cheddarsphere denzien)
I guess we can add Bloomer High School principal Brent Ashland, Bloomer School District Superintendent Doug Martin, and the majority of the Bloomer School Board, headed by president Joe Zeman to those whose patriotism we no longer need to question because they have none. Why? Allow me to recap the Chippewa Herald story I linked to:
– Bloomer High School senior Daniel Lingen finished his studies early so he could complete Marine Corps boot camp before the graduation ceremony on May 31.
– He requested permission from principal Brent Ashland to wear his soon-to-be-earned Marine dress blue uniform instead of the traditional cap-and-gown at said ceremony. Ashland, with no written policy to guide him, refused to allow this.
– His father, Charles Lingen, took his son’s case to the school board, after getting conflicting excuses for the refusal.
– On Monday, after what school board president Joe Zeman called weeks of discussion both among school board members and between school board members and the public, and after a snap decision to put this on the agenda the prior Friday and thus barely meet the requirements under the Open Meetings statutes, the school board adopted a cap-and-gown only policy written by superintendent Doug Martin. Of note, an attempt to carve out an exception for military dress uniforms died for a lack of a second to the motion offered by Ralph Bruxvoort.
The Chippewa Herald was thoughful enough to include a statement from the Bloomer School District. As you read it, note that there was no official uniform for graduation until after Daniel Lingen made his request and after the Bloomer School District spoke to their military representative:
The School District of Bloomer released the following statement Tuesday morning on the board’s decision:
It is the position of the School District of Bloomer that high school graduation, although it may hold different personal meaning for each individual, is a ceremony to recognize and honor students for their academic achievement in earning a Bloomer High School diploma.
Based on this, the Board of Education has determined that the appropriate attire for the Bloomer High School graduation ceremony will be the traditional cap and gown as selected by the Class of 2008.
In weighing this decision, the School Board and administration received input from individuals and groups on both sides of the issue, within and outside the community, including a representative of the U.S. Military. The military representative we talked with informed us that he understood our position because the military is all about uniformity; and if the uniform of a high school graduate is the cap and gown, all graduates should wear the cap and gown.
Unfortunately, there are some that will claim that by requiring graduates to wear the cap and gown, rather than their respective military uniform, that the district is somehow unpatriotic or unsupportive of those that serve our country. Drawing this conclusion is not an accurate assessment of the genuine appreciation felt by the individuals that comprise the School Board and administrative team.
The School Board and administration of the School District of Bloomer hold in highest regard the men and women who join and serve in our country’s military. We both respect and admire the sacrifices these individuals make to defend our national and individual freedom.
We are extremely grateful to our graduating students who choose to take this honorable path and, in recognition of that, there is time set aside during the Bloomer High School graduation program to acknowledge their commitment.
By adopting this official position only after it became an issue, and by at the least misleading that military representative what the official position of the school district was, I would say that deeming the school district is unpatriotic and unsupportive of the military is an accurate assessment.
So, the bipartisan Party-In-Government is about to “fix” a $652.3 million deficit in the current budget with, at least in part, what is claimed to be $69 million in reduced spending. Let’s take a look at what the state spent out of the general fund last fiscal year (numbers courtesy the Department of Administration) and what they’re going to spend out of it this fiscal year and next fiscal year, both with the present budget and with the semi-negotiated “fix” (numbers courtesy the Legislative Fiscal Bureau, with a $125 million upward adjustment to the “fix” for school payments pushed into the next budget, a net $121 million upward adjustment related to the tobacco re-refinancing, and a $69 million downward adjustment for the unspecified cuts the LFB considers “revenue”):
General spending in FY2007 doubled – $26.662 billion
General spending in FY2008-FY2009 current budget (as of now) – $27.952 billion
Net increase of spending in the current budget over FY2007 doubled – $1.290 billion (or if you prefer an averaged annual increase, $645 million per year)
General spending in FY2008-FY2009 “fix” (includes a net $177 million in upward adjustments outlined above) – $27.969 billion
Net increase of spending in the “fix” over FY2007 doubled – $1.307 billion (or if you prefer the averaged annual increase, $653.5 million per year)
Net increase in spending in the “fix” over the current budget – $17 million
That’s right, sports fans. The bipartisan Party-In-Government is planning on using a self-created budget crisis to increase spending even more. It’s time to send this barrel of pork back to the drawing board.
Today’s song is dedicated to Dave Jones…
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AeZxRYXZ154[/youtube]
Just in case you Cheddarheads weren’t paying attention, the May Drinking Right is tonight at 7 at the usual spot (Papa’s Social Club). Be there, or be somewhere not as fun.
(H/T – Allahpundit/Hot Air Headlines)
At least that’s what the Palestinians think according to WorldNetDaily. Let’s take a quick, way-too-late-at-night (or is it morning already?) look at the tale of the tape:
Positives:
Negatives:
I’m not feeling particularily-witty, so it’s just a general announcement. The May edition of Drinking Right will be tomorrow, May 13, at 7 pm at Papa’s Social Club, 7718 W. Burleigh St. in Milwaukee.
I don’t feel like drinking alone.
I doubt that welfare radio station in central Illinois will be having a blues fest this time around…
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NVF-0JKLnd4[/youtube]
I missed “America’s Favorite Mom”, but Kat didn’t, and she delivers the good news, and the better news. The $250,000 that Patti Bader-Patton won for being America’s Favorite Mom is going to Soldiers’ Angels.
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