So says ClickZ. Bravo Zulo, Sean.
Meanwhile, in related news, basements across the country start stinking up as Paul-nuts soil themselves.
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 posts by steveegg.
October 12, 2007
Fred Thompson the biggest thing on the Net
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Since Ron Paul likes the private sector so much, help send him there
Seek, and ye shall find. A fine gent by the name of Chris Peden is challenging Ron Paul-nut for the Republican nomination in Texas’ 14th Congressional district. While Peden is one of those that likes the “Fair”Tax, the rest of his views are quite good.
October 11, 2007
Pic of the day
From militaryphotos.net via head Jawa Rusty…
Militaryphotos.net has it in full 2048×1536 glory. I don’t care to know whether that’s a Photoshop (though I suspect it is).
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Say it ain’t so – UPDATE – it ain’t so
Billiam’s giving up the Cheap Seats view. Hopefully he’ll reconsider, but he’s pretty burnt out by the state of politics.
Revisions/extensions (7:33 am 10/12/2007) – Like the update says, he’s reconsidered. If you took him off your rolls and feed readers, please put him back.
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Ron Paul – too f—ing ignorant to be in politics
(H/T – HotAir Headlines)
Believe me when I tell you that this post will contain many expletives. Before I get to the foul-mouthed portion of this missive, I hereby invite the Texas Republican Party to find someone, ANYONE, to run for Ron Paul-nut’s seat in the next election. Those of you with sensitive eyes, don’t click the “more”, and if you got this off the feed, I apologize for the string of expletives. The rest of you, consider yourself warned.
Roll bloat – the modern edition
How I forgot to add Modern Commentaries before now I’ll never know. That oversight is now corrected. Hopefully, you didn’t forget to add Amy and Dave to your blogrolls and feed readers like I did.
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Design anti-MoveOn.org ads, get kicked off Google – update – $oro$ loses
(Major H/T – Michelle Malkin)
Lane Dutson, president of Maine Coast Designs, a firm working on Sen. Susan Collins’ re-election, tried to put up several ads that seek to rally Collins’ supporters against MoveOn.org up through Google AdWords. He got summarily rejected, and the money quotes are in an IM exchange he had with a Google employee.
Collins isn’t exactly a Pubbie (I’d put her somewhere between RINO and RepubicRAT), but the fact that $oro$ and company have even her targeted tells me everything I need to know about the current state of DhimmiRAT politics; they won’t leave any opposition unstifled.
Just as a reminder, Google owns Blogger, so my guess is you guys are next. As an aside, since they also own FeedBurner, I’m now looking at alternate ways to monitor my feed traffic.
Revisions/extensions (5:30 pm 10/15/2007) – Guess $oro$ isn’t all-powerful after all (once again, Michelle has the details).
Open Thread Thursday – The Return
Back from an exclusive 3-year tour of Europe, Scandinavia, and the Subcontinent, from Oak Creek, Wisconsin, it’s Open Thread Thursday. All the liquor got sucked up at Hot Air yesterday, but I’ll make a beer run by the afternoon.
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October 10, 2007
Wisconsin Taxpayer Rally – 10/17/2007
My friends at AFP-Wisconsin are holding a Taxpayer Rally at the State Capitol on the 17th:
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – October 9, 2007 Contact: Mark Block, (414) 475-2975
Americans for Prosperity to Hold -Defend Wisconsin-Taxpayer Rally- at State Capitol
Milwaukee -The free-market grassroots group Americans for Prosperity (AFP) will hold a citizen rally – Defend Wisconsin – Taxpayer Rally-
WHAT: Defend Wisconsin-Taxpayer Rally – to urge Wisconsin Legislators to pass a state budget with no tax increases.
WHO:
Mark Block, Wisconsin Director, Americans for Prosperity
Vicki McKenna, Radio Talk Show Host, WISN, Milwaukee and WIBA, Madison
Reince Priebus, Chairman, Republican Party of Wisconsin
Owen Robinson, Boots and Sabers
Pat Snyder, Radio Talk Show Host, WSAU, Wausau
Fred Dooley, The Real DebateWHEN: 12:00 Noon; Wednesday, October 17, 2007
WHERE: Wisconsin State Capitol,
King Street Entrance,
Madison, WITransportation Provided: Register at afpwi.org
LaCrosse, Eau Claire, Wausau, Green Bay, Manitowoc, Racine, Waukesha and more.Pre-Rally:
What: Meeting place prior to State Capitol Rally
Where: Kavanaugh’s Esquire Club, 1025 North Sherman Avenue, Madison, WI
When: 10:30 a.m., Wednesday, October 17, 2007
Transportation Provided: Register at www.afpwi.org
Eau Claire, Wausau, Green Bay, Manitowoc, Racine, Waukesha, La Crosse
Americans for Prosperity (AFP) is the nation’s premier grassroots organization committed to advancing every individual’s right to economic freedom and opportunity. AFP believes reducing the size and scope of government is the best safeguard to ensuring individual productivity and prosperity for all Americans. AFP educates and engages citizens in support of restraining state and federal government growth, and returning government to its constitutional limits. For more information, visit www.americansforprosperity.org
BE THERE!
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Paul Ryan introduces Taxpayer Choice Act
My Congresscritter, seeing the writing on the wall of the Alternative Minimum Tax, introduced a bill that not only eliminates that, but offers a very simplified income tax. Ryan’s office sent along a couple of PDF files, one of which is basically the presser linked to above, with the other a slightly-more-expansive document with a couple of charts thrown in. The highlights, beyond killing the AMT:
- Sets up a parallel system that offers the following:
- Eliminates the current mess of standard and itemized deductions, replacing them all with a $12,500 single/$25,000 joint standard deduction and a $3,500-per-person personal exemption (both adjusted for inflation).
- Uses two brackets; 10% for the first $50,000 of taxable income for single filers/$100,000 for joint filers, and 25% for amounts beyond that.
- Makes the 2003 capital gains/dividend tax cuts permanent.
- Allows one to choose which system to pay under, allows one additional “no-reasons” change, and allows additional changes for major life events (death, divorce and marriage are the 3 listed).
It’s a good start. I’d rather see a single rate (the lower, the better, and that also goes for the “Fair”Tax), and would much prefer that it replace the current system rather than operate alongside it.
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2007 Weblog Awards nominations now open
Mash the button above to start nominating worthy blogs (if you nominate me for anything, please let me know so I can hunt you down and ki…er, thank you). You’ll be able to do so until 10/15/2007.
One thing the organizers ask; please read the nominations before duplicating a nomination. If you like someone that’s already nominated, they do have a very informal way to register that; just click on the “+” sign next to the nominee.
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Down goes Bolender’s and DeGrave’s attempt to consolidate power
The vote totals from yesterday’s election:
Should city ordinances be changed to allow the city clerk position to be appointed by the mayor, subject to confirmation by the Common Council?
No: 956
Yes: 490Should city ordinances be changed to allow the city treasurer position to be appointed by the mayor, subject to confirmation by the Common Council?
No: 955
Yes: 492
Good work, voters.
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Grading the Republican debate #8
Since I’m a day late with the gradebook, it’s a good thing a lot of people took notes, like Mary Katharine Ham (who did the debate in lolDebatez format) Matt Lewis, Vodkapundit, and Huckleberry Dumbell, to back up my own PG-13-rated notes (rated such for language). Let’s break out the red pen and start grading both the candidates and the moderators:
Maria Bartiromo – B – She had the benefit of having Chris Matthews as the co-host, and most of her questions were decent economic ones.
Sam Brownback – B – The good: Flat tax, drill’em oil policy, no tax increases, focus on the family. The bad: electric cars (batteries do not work too well at zero degrees and colder, and it’s not a Wisconsin or Michigan winter without a few sub-zero nights), lack of stage presence, like of Greenspan, flat tax plan “optional”.
Rudy Giuliani – B – The good: Once again laid the smackdown on Ron Paul (though I would’ve dipped back to 12/7 instead of 9/11), seems to have turned over a new leaf from his ’80s witchhunt of Wall Street, good stage presence, sense of history (he actually dipped back before 9/11 for once). The bad: Wrong side of line-item veto (to be fair, I don’t want a President with Wisconsin’s Frankenstein veto), I still can’t get over his ’80s witchhunt of Wall Street.
John Harwood – I, leaning toward F – My semi-drunk notes (I would’ve been racing Vodkapundit, but I had to pace myself because of Drinking Right later last night) only show him asking 2 questions, but both started off with “Wah!”
Mike Huckabee – D+ – The good: He won’t wait for a public opinion poll if inbound nukes are on the way, faith in the American consumer. The bad: Repeating the “end of underground economy” lie vis-a-vis the “Fair”Tax, predicting a union comeback, supporting corn-a-hole, willing to spend billions just to deny the ‘Rats a political win (and giving them the actual win instead).
Duncan Hunter – C – The good: Understands we’re in a trade war, and that the Pubbies need to be more “human”. The bad: He’s turned into a one-note pony, blind support for the “Fair”Tax.
Chris Matthews – F – Once again, Prissy Chrissy proved the truth behind the ancient Egyptian fable of the scorpion and the horse. It was at the 45-minute mark, right after the first set of commercials, he plunged his stinger into the debate.
John McCain – C- – The good: Once again the most-quoted by his opponents, against compuslory union membership, command of history, won’t make the mistake of McShame-Slimeroad Lieberal Protection Act with the Internet, earmark-hater The bad: Big-government lover, way out of his league on economic issues, bad stumbler (and that doesn’t count the problems hearing a couple of questions), egotistical.
Ron Paul – F – The good (yes, there is a good here): dislike of subsidies. The bad: Utter stupidity with regard to foreign relations, brain-dead on history, latent goldbug, dislike of subsidies seems more pro-forma than an actual core belief.
Mitt Romney – B- – The good: “(S)moother than a smoothie smoothed over with fine-grit sandpaper” (shamelessly stolen from Vodkapundit), says most of the right things. The bad: The record doesn’t support the rhetoric, support for farm subsidies while also supporting corn-a-hole, support for HiliaryCare Lite (i.e. TaxachusettsCare).
Jeffrey Seib – B+ – Two of the three questions he posed were very good ones. He got the corn-a-hole monster out on the table (promptly flubbed by both candidates it was posed to).
Tom Tancredo – C- – The good: The only candidate to recognize that the 3,000-lb hippo in the government part of the economic room is SocSecurity and Medicare, and the 3,000-lb hippo in the trade half is imported oil, won’t raise taxes. The bad: Somehow ties everything back to illegal immigration (stretching too far sometimes), gratuitous cheap shot at Brownback’s mother (which knocked the grade down a full grade).
Fred Thompson – B – The good: Avoided the Prissy Landmines with aplomb, said that unionizing ballots should remain secret ballots, generally got stronger as the debate went on. The bad: Slow start, fumbled the one “specifics” question from Bartiromo.
October 9, 2007
Running behind
I still have a vote to cast, and my feet to remove from my mouth (don’t ask until I’m good and drunk), so I’ll be a wee bit late to Drinking Right, and my post-debate react will have to wait until tomorrow.
Sorry about that.
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Roll bloat – 800-lb gorilla edition
That 800-lb gorilla would be Pajamas Media. Now, who thought that I was worthy of a link from there? Thank you.
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The first Fred Debate
The fun starts in just over an hour from Dearborn, Michigan, on CNBC. As usual, there will be a heap of paraphrasing (I’m not the fastest keyboardist around), with the questions in italics and my own comments in parentheses. The updates will be on the 24-hour clock, set to Central Daylight Time (after all, that’s where I am). I’ll probably insult supporters of every candidate before it’s over, and you can guarantee I’ll take gratuitous shots at Prissy Chrissy Matthews, so be forewarned.
Semi-confirmed fellow live-bloggers (H/T – Sister Toldjah):
– Right Wing News
– TownHall (dunno exactly who has this duty just yet)
– HotAir (it’s AP as of 14:41; I still expect Michelle to live-blog from her site)
– Free Republic (live thread up and finally noticed by me at 14:17)
I’m settling in for the last hour of a tape-delayed Rush.
14:21 – CNBC.com will be streaming live for those of you without access to CNBC on your TVs (I’ll change the link to the live feed if I remember).
14:39 – Today’s lineup:
Sam Brownback
Rudy Giuliani
Mike Huckabee
Duncan Hunter
John McCain
Ron Paul
Mitt Romney
Tom Tancredo
Fred Thompson
Asking the questions: Maria Bartiromo and the aforementioned Prissy (I’ve got my gas mask and all the sources of ignition are under control, so rip away, Seditionous One).
14:57 – Live link to CNBC’s coverage
15:00 – And we’re LIVE! John Harwood and Jeffrey Seib (sp?)
15:01 – Maria to Thompson – Are we headed to a recession? – Nope. Listing the tax cuts, low inflation, low interests, mentions the stock market (new record for the Dow Industrials and S&P 500). “We’re spending money we do not have…. That has to do with our mandatory spending.” But, but, but 2/3rds say we’re in a recession or heading there – There hasn’t been enough done to tell the story.
15:03 – To Romney – Whose job is it to fix unemployment? – Everyone’s. It’s a uniquely-Michigan problem “The President has to say to the auto industry the door is always open.” Hits on the Detroit public schools graduation rate (22%), smacks Gov. Jennifer Granholm for raising taxes instead of cutting it.
15:05 – Prissy to Giuliani – Is there a downside to private equity markets? – Praises the free markets (hmm, that’s a switch from the ’80s). The fundamentals are keep taxes low, regulations moderate, spending under control, and tame the legal system.
Neocon News has joined us (at least if he gets the database fixed).
Giuliani and Matthews want Torre to stay with the Yankees.
15:07 – To Paul – Wah, we’re in a recession because of the monetary system. STFU, goldbug, you’re about a century off.
Matt Lewis drew the short straw at TownHall
15:09 – Maria to McCain – Is the tax code fair? – “We’re losing industrial jobs and not taking care of those left behind.” SocSecurity and Medicare are going broke. Hammers pork-barrel spending. Maria pounds the question again, and McCain gaffed. First said it was fair, then said we need to fix it.
15:11 – Chrissy to Huckabee – Will the FairTax kill spending? – Nothing will kill American spending. It will untax exports, end the underground economy (Bravo Foxtrot Sierra). For a lot of Americans, the economy is not doing well.
15:13 – To Hunter – “I’m a sponsor of the FairTax” (DAMMIT!) Hammering the loss of manufacturing capability to Red China.
Jonathan Martin at The Politico is also live-blogging.
15:15 – Chrissy to Thompson – Respond to the charge of Free vs Fair Trade – Points out that the Red Chinese have devalued their currency to maintain their edge, but free trade is still best.
15:16 – Maria to Brownback – No new taxes? – “We don’t need to raise taxes. Pushing an optional flat tax (why just optional, Sam?). Hammers on spending. Name a program you’d cut – Advanced Technology Program, corporate welfare. It’s tough to cut.
15:18 – Same to Tancredo – Absolutely. Cutting earmarks aren’t the end-all/be-all to balancing the budget. It’s ‘mandatory’ spending; you could cut the entire discretionary spending and not balance the budget. You need to address Social Security, privatize it or forget about ending deficit spending.
15:20 – Chrissy to Giuliani – Differenciate yourself on taxes. – “I’ve cut taxes 23 times” (what about fees, Rudi?).
To Romney – “I did so too…. If you’re going to cut taxes, you’re going to have to cut spending.” Notes Giuliani fought to kill the fed line-item veto (I need to verify this).
To Rudy – “Spending went up by 8% under Romney, down 7% under me.” Line-item WAS unconstitutional (BWAHAHAHAHA!!!!!)
CATFIGHT!!!! Romney trots out different spending numbers from Club for Growth showing Giuliani raised spending more.
Mary Katharine introduces LOLdebatez
Giuliani still fighting against S(l)ick Willie.
15:24 – FINALLY to somebody else – John Harwood to Thompson – Wah; those losing creme manufacturing jobs can’t replace their income with no new education. Defend – Growth is good, and we should figure out how to get America back to manufacturing parity. We have the 2nd-highest corporate tax, and try to fix devaluation.
15:26 – To Hunter – Hammering Red China again.
15:26 – Chrissy to McCain – Will we ever go back to industrial dominance again? – Nope. Points out there’s a lot of costs, including health care, holding Americans back. Faith in government’s broken. More spending to make up the difference (WTF?)
15:28 – To Tancredo – “Government’s broken thanks to the Senator’s support for illegal immigration.”
15:29 – Seib to Romney – Do you believe in trade? – Yes, but I believe in two-way trade. We have to protect intellectual property. The ChiComs have to start floating their currency and not ripping off our patents. Pandering to Michigan.
Giuliani isn’t looking well.
15:31 – Maria to Giuliani – Wah, the Islamokazis couldn’t take over our ports and the ChiComs couldn’t take over Unocal. P-p-please tell me you’re for free trade. – In 3 of 4 deals, we would have been exporting more. There’s economic protection, and there’s security protection. Let’s get back our entrepenurial spirit. Should Dubai own 20% of NASDAQ? Yes. Protectionism caused the Great Depression.
Question down the line — Paul – Yes, there’s no security concern.
Huckabee – Dodged.
McCain – Yes, if they pass the security requirements. Protectionism caused WWII.
Romney – Yes.
We can compete and win, but we need to make sure the agreement is for our benefit.
Thompson – Yes, points that NASDAQ would get 30% of the Dubai company. (If memory serves, Thompson pushed the Dubai ports deal).
Hunter – No, I don’t trust them. Dubai was involved in trying to move nuclear triggers to Pakistan. Mirror-trade; if you want to stick 15% tarrifs on our goods, we’ll do it to you. If you stick 1%, we’ll do that to you too.
Brownback – Yes. I did trade, and the Pubbies need to stay the party of free trade.
Tancredo – No. If they wanted WalMart, maybe. Points out that the ChiComs are waging economic war on the US.
15:39 – Prissy to Thompson – Wah, we tax-and-spenders need the Alternative Minimum Tax money, even if it targets 20 million. Bravo Sierra. Points out lower taxes and lower tax rates grow the economy. It should be phased out, but in the interim, at least index it.
15:41 – BREAK!
15:45 – Prissy to Thompson – P-p-p-please say Booosh lied, Iraqis died. – Bugger off, Prissy. We made mistakes before, but now we’ve got a good strategery. Islamokazis are THE threat because “they play by no rules and are intent on bringing down Western Civilization and America.”
15:46 – Maria to McCain – What would you have said after 9/11? – Consider volunteering SOMEWHERE! I said Iraq was failing 4 years ago, but I thank the American people for giving us a window to allow it to work.
15:47 – Prissy to Paul-nut – Would we have gone to war if not for the oil? – Not necessarily. It’s a mistake. (Would you rather have allowed Saddamite to run over Saudi just to play RealPolitik?) Oh, go join the DhimmiRATS already.
15:48 – Same question to Brownback – “We saw in Iraq what we thought was a mixture of terrorism and WMDs.” We haven’t found the WMDs (hint; look in Syria, where the Israelis bombed last month). Pushing the 3-state solution.
15:50 – Prissy to Thompson – When did the WMDs leave? – “He had them prior. He used them against his own people…. He had designs on restarting his nuclear program.” If they were left to their own devices, Saddam and Sons would still be attacking their neighbors and developing WMDs.
15:52 – Prissy to Romney – Would you need to go to Congress to go after Iran? – You’d double-check with your attorneys. Bush got the approval of Congress to go into Iraq. Did he need it? Let the lawyers decide that. It was outrageous for the UN and Columbia University to invite him.
Around the table with the question — Hunter – Depends on the timing. If it’s a very narrow window to take out the target, no. If he has time, he should go to Congress for approval.
Paul – Absolutely. “We’ve never had (an imminent attack on us) in 220 years” (what the fuck do you call Pearl Harbor, you dumbfuck?)
Huckabee – If it’s actionable now, nope. You do what’s best for the American people and suffer the consequences later. You never let the American people get hit with nukes.
McCain – If it’s immediate, nope. If it’s a long-term buildup, go to Congress, at least the leaders.
Thompson – McCain has it right. There is a conflict in the War Powers Act between the President and Congress. In any close call, you should go to Congress whether it’s legally-required or not.
To Giuliani (Prissy now brings out that Hiliary brought forth legislation to do just that) – What do you call 9/11, Toofer? We have to be willing to use military force to bring Iran’s nuclear program to a halt.
16:00 – Maria to Giuliani – Something on oil and energy independence? – Goes back to the earlier Iraq/oil question. Have to do everything we can to get energy-independent (didn’t hear drill). Would you include drilling off California? Nothing’s off the table, going to nuclear power.
To Brownback – Drill off Florida? – Dodge by saying we should be energy-‘sufficient’ in 15 years. Pushes electric cars (that’ll fly REAL well in January in Detroit; you hear of zero degrees?) Pushing on drilling – Yes, with environmentally sound practice.
To Tancredo – Same – The biggest chunk of our trade deficit is oil, which goes to those that want us dead, so let’s drill, baby.
16:04 – Harwood to McCain – Wah, I don’t think Big Oil’s paying enough taxes – Avoids that, I wouldn’t drill unless the locals want it. McShame is a Gorebal “Warming” disciple (BOOO!!!!!!)
16:06 – Seib to Huckabee – Does corn-a-hole make economic sense? – It’s part of the plan, even if it doesn’t now. (BRAVO FOXTROT SIERRA!)
16:08 – Same to Thompson – Apologizes to Goober. See Huckabee’s answer (BRAVO FOXTROT SIERRA! Oh, Sean, methinks you need to talk to the boss).
16:10 – Maria to Romney – Will gubmint need to bail out farmers again? – Oh, hell yeah. (BRAVO FOXTROT SIERRA! We can’t be both the breadbasket and play with our food in the gas tanks)
16:11 – Prissy to the group – How do you get the economy issue back) — Paul – We need to be goldbug isolationists. At least he doesn’t like subsidies.
Huckabee – It’s a message issue, and we need to reform taxes.
McCain – Restore trust after failures in Katrina, Iraq and spending. Stop spending like DhimmiRATs.
Romney – By being confident (take that McShame and Paul-nut). Oh, and bring it, Hiliary!
Thompson – Tell the truth that security, economy are on the line. Spend more than 4% of GDP on defense. Accept responsibility, and help people help themselves.
Giuliani – Energy independence, and sell it to Red China and India. Brings up the Hitlery KinderBond and the new Hitlery 401(k).
Hunter – Hammer on the trade deficit, kill the bad trade deals.
Brownback – Optional flat tax (why optional, Sam?). Points out that 40% of the world’s R&D spending is here.
Tancredo – Kill illegal immigration. Stop pandering to special interests.
16:18 – BREAK!
Michelle’s sleeping through this one (her loss), but she points to a few more live-bloggers:
– Vodkapundit
– John Henke at Thompson’s site
– The News Junkie
– Blogging For Michigan
Welcome Pajamas Media readers.
16:22 – Maria to Thompson – Describe the specifics of your touching the third rail of SocSecurity – We need a growing economy, with low taxes and lower discretionary spending, we need to allow some privativization, and we need to index benefits to inflation instead of wages. The last is only a stopgap. (Specifics? What specifics?)
16:24 – Tancredo – “The worst thing I did was vote for FastTrack.”
16:26 – Seib to Romney – P-p-p-please endorse HitleryCare – I want HitleryCare Lite like I foisted upon Taxachusetts. Health care is a Pubbie issue and a ‘Rat fundraising issue.
16:28 – Prissy to the group – Defend unions — Paul – Don’t deny the right to organize, but don’t give them special rights.
Huckabee – I see unions coming back because of the pay inequities (who wrote that one, Hitlery or Karl Marx?)
McCain – They were good once, but there should never be compulsory union membership.
Romney – There’s some good and bad. Can you name the good? Names the carpenters’ union. I won’t name the bad ones (because he doesn’t want to get whacked).
Thompson – I’m a union member, but there shouldn’t be compuslory union membership and the vote should be secret.
Giuliani – Unions got my grandma out of poverty. Sing the Union Label song, Rudy. I’ll pass. There are bad unions as well, and McCain’s right.
Hunter – The steelworkers’ union is a good one.
Brownback – They have been good to my postal-office mother. There are some abuses, and the government has to ensure effective oversight.
Tancredo – Whacks Brownback’s mother. Conflict between unions and management is usually a good thing, but they go off the rails when they go into politics.
16:34 – Maria to McCain – Do you agree that Ford and GM need to produce better products rather than look for bailouts? McCain missed the question the first time. Can you hear me now? Yes, and they have to do it on their own. It’s the job of the feds to create the climate that they can succeed in. Flop back on corn-a-hole, now against it again (HUZZAH!).
16:36 – Maria to Thompson – Should the gubmint step in to stop a pending strike against Chrysler? – Not now because it’s not a national security concern. Not even if they say they’re at a disadvantage? They’re at a disadvantage now, so….
16:38 – Prissy to Giuliani – How do you police the Net? – We should police the ‘Net against child predators, working with the states and locals. Do we need the FCC on the Net? – If what we have doesn’t get a handle on it,… but I’m not big on that.
16:39 – Same to McCain – HELL NO! (funny, you created the current FCC monster).
16:40 – BREAK!
16:43 – Lightning round from Prissy. To Huckabee – Would you have sunk the SCHIP? – The issue wasn’t about children, it was about political posturing. Bush lost the battle. I dunno if I would have vetoed it. (Principles, Mikey)
16:45 – Maria to Romney – How would you change the feelings of Arab-Americans that they’re being shunted? – We welcome people of all backgrounds and faiths.
Maria to Thompson – The dangers of the weak dollar. – The weak dollar helps our exports, but we need to have a strong dollar.
Prissy to Giuliani – How do you handle foreign-held debt? – Trade.
Prissy to Brownback – Who do you trust on economic issues? – Phil Gramm, Alan Greenspan.
Maria to McCain – Has Bernanke cut interest rates enough? – I don’t know, but that’s why he’s there.
Prissy to Paul – Will you support the Pubbie nominee? – Nope unless they run on the Hitlery platform.
To Tancredo – Same – I don’t want to do the “lesser of 2 evils” again.
To Brownback – Same – Yep.
To Hunter – Same – Yep, but I’m going to impress my views on him.
Maria to Giuliani – Will London replace NYC as the financial capital of the world? – HELL NO!
Follow-up on SarBox – Avoids by saying the world’s lowering corporate taxes, but the ‘Rats want to raise it?
To Romney – Same – Nope on London, let’s fix SarBox, and I’ll support the Pubbie nominee.
Thompson – “And to thought I would be the best actor on the stage.”
Prissy to Thompson – Name the Canuck PM, and how would you get along with him? Harper, and we’ll get our act together.
Maria to Huckabee – How do you fix air traffic, and how do you pay for it? – Upgrade the ground equipment, and tell the airlines to stop holding the passengers hostage.
Prissy to McCain – How would you catch bin Laden? – Reconstitute the OSS, and give them cart blanche. Oh, I’ll support me.
Maria to Romney – What is the greatest long-term threat to the economy? – America has to realize that optimism conquers all. We are the envy of the world.
Same to Brownback – Breakdown of the family. Greatest economic threat? Yes.
Prissy to Giuliani – Third-party? – We’ve had them before, but the two-party system is best. Refering to the last question, it’s education. Takes a swipe at HitleryCare, saying that if we adopt it, the Canucks would have nowhere to go for better care.
Maria to Thompson – Did you wait too long? – Nope, it’s just about right.
AND WE’RE OUT!
For some reason, my feed reader didn’t catch Huckleberry Dumbbell’s live-blog. Sorry about that.
MKH – Three Ways Fred Can Ward Off Underperformance
Fred Thompson will finally start participating in debates later today (I’ll be here putting up with Chrissy Matthews at 3), so Mary Katharine Ham offered up some good pointers. The last is the biggest one that I feel Thompson needs to work on; then again, I’m not exactly impressed by flash and fluff.
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Add Coors and Molson to the “banned beer” list
Those looking for alternatives to the anti-Christian/pro-Mexican Invasion Miller brand of beers just had their choices cut. The AP is reporting that SABMiller PLC and Molson Coors Brewing are combining their American operations.
That gives new meaning to Blue Moon Beer, which also has been ejected from the cooler.
Roll bloat – more south-of-the-border edition
Once again, I’m only dipping a bit south of the Root River, and Stu doesn’t post much, but when he does, Ravings From A Right Wing Wacko is one hellova read.
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Drinking Right tonight
Well, Fred, Sean, Kevin and I can’t have all the fun. Usual time (7 pm), usual place (Papa’s Social Club, 7718 W Burleigh in Milwaukee). Be there or be nowhere.
Under-the-radar election in Oak Creek TODAY!
If you’re in Oak Creek, like me, there is an election today. The mayor and city administrator want to turn the city clerk and city treasurer from elected to appointed positions, and already managed to get the Common Council to agree. Fortunately for us taxpayers, they had to do it via the Charter Ordinance route, and enough of us signed petitions to force this to a referendum:
– Shall Charter Ordinance No. 12, which provides that the method of selection of the City Clerk be by appointment by the Mayor, subject to cofirmation by a majority of the members of the Common Council, be enacted?
– Shall Charter Ordinance No. 13, which provides that the method of selection of the City Treasurer be by appointment by the Mayor, subject to confirmation by a majority of the members of the Common Council, be enacted?
I recommend NO votes on both questions. The current system has served this city very well for the last 52 years. If the positions become appointments, the pay required to attract “qualified” candidates will increase substantially for no appreciable benefit.
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October 7, 2007
Slight change in the Teatotaler link structure
With Bad Behavior behaving badly, I disabled it. Unfortunately, it also invited in some spammy comments, and my suite of anti-spam software does not fully-work with the default link structure. I’ve now adopted a “pretty permalink” structure.
Don’t worry; you do not have to go back through your archives to fix links to old posts. WordPress is still smart enough to recognize the /?p=x links and get them to the right page.
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NFL Week 5
I guess hiding in the belly of the gubmint beast kept me alive another week (it also had a very nice side benefit; meeting the way-out-of-my-league Mary Katharine Ham), but it kept me from figuring out just how many torpedo/shell/bomb holes the USS Egg has in it. No time for that now as we steam into the mine field known as Week 5, once again using the slightly-whacked Bodog.com lines via Vegas Insider:
Chicago @ Green Bay (-3.5) – Brian Urlacher nailed it – “We stink right now.”
Detroit (+3.5) @ Washington – Counter-contra stat of the day – Detroit is 0-17 in DC.
Carolina (+3.5) @ New Orleans – Deja vu all over again; the 1996 Aints started off 0-4.
Jacksonville (-2) @ Kansas City – Make sure that cup is on; this one’s going to hurt just watching it.
Atlanta (+8.5) @ Tennessee – Too much lumber, though the Tennesseeans aren’t missing the arcade one bit.
Miami @ Houston (-6) – 5, 6, it doesn’t matter. I wouldn’t take the Deadfins until the line moves into AC voltage territory.
Seattle (+6.5) @ Pittsburgh – The FAA has issued a severe turbulence advisory over Heinz Field for all the collisions that will take place. Take the under-41.
Cleveland @ New England (-17) – We all know what happened the third time Neo met Smith.
Arizona (-4) @ St. Louis – Two quarterbacks are better than none.
New York Jets “@” New York Giants (-4) – I also talked to Jimmy Hoffa this week, and he said take the G-men.
Tampa Bay @ Indianapolis (-10) – There’s no Cadillac, so jump on this gift from the bookies. To thank them by taking even more of their money, take the over-45.5.
San Diego @ Denver (+1) – This game’s in Denver, right? Shanahan has a piss-pot full of running backs, right? So why are the voltless Bolts favored?
Baltimore (-3.5) @ San Francisco – Nothing like fresh meat in at QB to cure defensive woes.
Dallas (-11) @ Buffalo – It’s not supposed to snow in Buffalo, and Leon Lett’s been retired for umpteen years.
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Staff sizes in New Hampshire
(H/T – Ian Schwartz)
Brit Hume ran down the number of staffers the Big Seven (Clinton, Edwards, Giuliani, McCain, Obama, Romney and Thompson) have in New Hampshire. Those numbers ought to tell you absolutely, positively everything you need to know about what they believe the size of government should be.
On a related note, while I won’t be updating the fundraising post that’s currently buried somewhere below until the FEC numbers come out (because there’s been too many all-but-official numbers released between Thursday and Friday), it will be very interesting to see the “burn rate”, how fast the campaigns are going through their stash. That’s something that Kevin told us to watch on Thursday. If the massive size of the Rats’ staffs in New Hampshire are any indication, they need every penny of their fundraising advantage just to keep those that hope to be suckling off the gubmint trough less than 16 months from now happy.
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Doyle uses confidential student information to gin up props
I’m late to this party (I never dumped the WTMJ feeds onto the laptop, had issues with my e-mail most of the day Friday, and didn’t want to bury the DAD stuff), but Charlie found out that Jim “Craps” Doyle (WEAC/Potawatomi-For Sale) or one of his political minions obtained the names of those who received a Wisconsin Higher Education Grant for the 2006-07 school year but were “wait-listed” for the 2007-08 school year in apparent violation of federal privacy laws, and then instructed Michelle Curtis, associate director of Student Financial Services at UW, to send out a blast e-mail to invite them to a Craps dog-and-pony show on the WHEG. Jessica McBride, who works in the UW system at UWM, points out that it is further a violation of state law for a UW employee to engage in political activities while at work, and points to a UW memo that states the prohibition includes use of campus e-mail and equipment.
One tidbit I can add thanks to my presence in DC; that federal law is so restrictive, Vicki McKenna was told by somebody back at WIBA that the e-mail addresses of those who received this coercive e-mail would not be obtainable through an open records request.
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