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.
Rep. Bill Kramer (R-Waukesha) tipped me to this little power freeze, known as AB 787 introduced into the Assembly to keep control of the Office of the Commissioner of Insurance for another three years after losing the governor’s office. To wit, it changes the appointment from an “at the pleasure of the governor” appointment to a fixed 4-year appointment ending in the third year of the governor’s term.
Why is this so noxious? The OCI pretty much has free hand in regulating the entire insurance industry. Given every driver in the state has to have auto insurance, and if PlaceboCare gets put into law, every person would have to have health insurance, the philosophy of the operation of that power is something that should not be divorced by three years from the expression of will by the public.
Oh, and before you Democrats scream that it was a partisan Tommy Thompson that got the term changed from a fixed term to one of the governor’s discretion, it was done by a Democratic Legislature.
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Wisconsin’s 7th Congressional District Republican Party today voted in overwhelming numbers to officially endorse Ashland County District Attorney Sean Duffy as their choice to defeat Chairman David Obey in November.
Of those who voted to endorse, Sean Duffy received 406 delegate votes, or 84 percent of the vote to Dan Mielke’s 78 delegate votes, or 16 percent of the vote.
“I’m humbled and extremely grateful to Republicans in the 7th District for their official endorsement. I’ve never seen the Party more unified or more energized. Our positive message of job creation and fiscal responsibility has clearly resonated,” said District Attorney Duffy. “Dave Obey’s big government spending spree has mortgaged our children’s future, slowed our economic recovery and driven American into record debt. The contrast between us is clear and simple – Obey puts his faith in government bureaucrats, and I put my faith in the American people.”
The Duffy for Congress Campaign has raised a record $400,000 – twice as much as any previous Obey challenger raised in an entire election cycle – while being highlighted by the Wall Street Journal and National Review Online, and named by the Washington Independent as the #3 conservative in America to watch in 2010.
Sean Duffy was first elected as Ashland County District Attorney in 2002 and has served in that role for seven years. As District Attorney, Duffy has aggressively compiled a 90 percent conviction rate. He is three-time World Champion Lumberjack athlete, ESPN Outdoor Games analyst, and former MTV Real World cast member.
There’s a new twist in the All My Thompsons saga – Poltico is reporting that Tommy Thompson has told his Washington-based law firm and key clients that he might indeed challenge Russ Feingold for his Senate seat this year. His former campaign manager, Bill McCoshen, told Politico that Thompson’s moves toward running are “more thoughtful and more deliberate” than those taken at any point since he departed the governor’s mansion in 2001.
Meanwhile, an anonymous ally, who says that Thompson would have at least $200,000 in donations waiting for him once he jumped in, says that it is now 70-30 that he jumps in, noting that Thompson has been asking operational questions in recent weeks.
On the other hand, his wife, Sue Ann, recently told Madison Magazine that she’s discouraging Tommy from running. Also, Thomspon has a few black marks, including being on record as supporting the Senate version of PlaceboCare.
Side note from the story – Milwaukee County Democratic Party chair Sachin Chheda noted that support would hurt Thompson in any election.
Also, I note that $200,000 isn’t exactly going to cut it in the money race. Feingold had over $3.6 million in the bank at the end of last year, and Terrence Wall, the more-moneyed of the two announced Republican challengers, raised about $240,000 not including loans to himself in his first 7 weeks.
Still, there’s the Rasmussen polls over the last 2 months that gave Thompson a margin-of-error lead over Feingold (while Feingold maintained a double-margin-of-error lead over both Wall and Dave Westlake), and the name recognition that Thompson still enjoys in Wisconsin.
The consensus in Wisconsin, from Kevin to Mary at Freedom Eden to Brad V at Letters in Bottles is that Thompson needs to make a decision soon, sooner than during the late-May GOP convention that was floated in the Politico article. Beyond the time aspect, which Wall and Westlake desperately need to get known, there’s the money aspect. If those with deep pockets (or at least deeper pockets than my empty ones) don’t know whether Thompson will or will not jump in until late-May, the cash that could have gone into this race will likely end up elsewhere.
I suppose I should fire up the polls on this one. While I didn’t include an expiration date on the poll, I will close it before the GOP convention if Thompson still hasn’t announced one way or the other.
Will Tommy Thompson run for US Senate in 2010?
Up to 1 answer(s) was/were allowed
Yes, and he should. (640%, 32 Vote(s))
No, and he shouldn't. (320%, 16 Vote(s))
Yes, but he shouldn't. (120%, 6 Vote(s))
I have no clue what Tommy's doing. (100%, 5 Vote(s))
Walker 49%, Barrett 40%, undecided 10%, other 1% (compared to 48% Walker/38% Barrett/12% undecided/1% other last month)
Neumann 44%, Barrett 42%, undecided 10%, other 4% (compared to 42% Neumann/38% Barrett/13% undecided/7% other last month)
The reason why I call it good news for Walker despite a narrowing of the lead by a percentage point is two-fold:
He is now, within the margin of rounding, only one percentage point of hitting a majority, with his margin over Barrett twice the margin of the 4.5-point error.
His Favorability Index (the very-favorable less the very-unfavorable, taken from Rasmussen’s Presidential Approval Index) went up from +14 (29% very favorable/15% very unfavorable) last month to +18 (32%/14%). Significantly, he is the only candidate whose very-unfavorable percentage dropped.
Neumann has a harder road given a more-significant narrowing of his lead over Barrett. However, not only does he still have said lead, his Favorability Index improved from -1 (10% very favorable/11% very unfavorable) last month to +4 (18%/14%).
Barrett shares that same +4 Favorability Index (22% very favorable/18% very unfavorable), an improvement from his +2 (19%/17%) last month. That is buoyed by an improvement in the views of both Gov. Jim Doyle (overall approval margin up from -26 to -20, Approval Index up from -31 to -24) and President Barack Obama (overall approval margin up from -8 to -5, Approval Index up from -20 to -11).
Rasmussen Reports expanded and extended upon their Russ Feingold-v-Tommy Thompson matchup last month, this time including the two announced Republican challengers. The quick-and-dirty numbers:
– Thompson 48%, Feingold 43% (up from a 47%/43% Thompson advantage last month)
– Feingold 47%, Terrence Wall 39%
– Feingold 47%, Dave Westlake 37%
As Rasmussen noted, incumbents who can’t get to 50%, especially against a couple of people little-better-known than John Doe, are in trouble. Of note, the “undecideds” in all three matchups are, to within the margin of rounding, equal to the margin between the major candidates.
David Dodenhoff, Ph.D, took a look at the shocking growth of food stamps in Wisconsin for the Wisconsin Policy Research Institute, specifically the 50% growth between 2002 and 2008. The takeaway (emphasis in the original):
That, unfortunately, is the way government tends to work. When elected officials act, they typically claim to be addressing some public policy problem or other. It’s funny, though, how the solutions they proffer always seem to solve a political problem, namely, “How can I maximize my chances for reelection?” New programs and extensions of existing programs, like SNAP, allow politicians to distribute benefits to particular constituencies, while spreading the costs over a broad base of taxpayers. The political benefits are obvious; whether or not progress has been made on the underlying policy issue is almost beside the point.
Bureaucrats have a similar problem to solve: “How can I keep my job?” Negotiated civil service and union protections are part of the answer. Another answer, though, is this: “Make yourself indispensible.” New programs and extensions of existing programs mean that there’s always more work to be done, which makes the idea of bureaucratic downsizing a very hard sell.
The result is a public sector that sees its own unrelenting growth not as many Americans see it—that is, as an urgent problem—but as a solution; in fact, as the one solution that always makes sense.
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Matt Lewis remembers that voting record matters, which tends to be bad news for one Paul Ryan –
Though he talks like Nobel Prize-winning economist Milton Friedman, some of Ryan’s most high-profile votes seem closer to Keynes than to Adam Smith. For example, in the span of about a year, Ryan committed fiscal conservative apostasy on three high-profile votes: The Troubled Asset Relief Program, or TARP (whereby the government purchased assets and equity from financial institutions), the auto-bailout (which essentially implied he agrees car companies – especially the ones with an auto plant in his district—are too big to fail), and for a confiscatory tax on CEO bonuses (which essentially says the government has the right to take away private property—if it doesn’t like you).
While Ryan’s overall voting record is very conservative, the problem with casting these high-profile votes is that they demonstrate he is willing to fundamentally reject conservatism when the heat is on.
Because it is impossible to believe the highly intelligent and well read Rep. Ryan was unfamiliar with conservative economic principles, one must conclude he either 1). Doesn’t really believe in free market economics, or 2). Was willing to cast bad votes for purely political purposes.
From my standpoint, ignorance can be forgiven and overcome; the other explanations, however, seem to be disqualifiers for higher office.
Yes, folks, that is Nick Schweitzer Matt linked to. Speaking of that, Nick was prophetic on what the bailouts of GM and Chrysler would lead to…
What this bailout proposes is to replace that system with one in which the Executive branch, through a “car czar”, and also through various financial carrots and sticks, take control of that reorganization. The danger in doing so is that not only will the bailout money be wasted, but now politics will enter into how the reorganization takes place. If you thought the current system of ear marks, and special favors in bills was bad, just wait and see what little favors GM, Ford and Chrysler are forced to do… whether it will actually help make a successful company again or not. This is once again an unprecedented growth in executive power, which makes our President even more like a King that before.
As for the charges, damn near everybody who doesn’t have a conspiratorial mind got fooled on TARP. However, by the time the auto bailouts came around, the “fool me twice” principle came into play. Ryan’s suggestion was to use previously-programmed-yet-unspent money for plant modernization to do the bailout, which given that the bailout was used as leverage for a takeover, is not exactly defensible. I’ll note that neither the GM truck plant in Janesville (Ryan’s hometown) nor the Chrysler engine plant in Kenosha got saved in the end.
Regarding the pay limit, that is an off-the-record answer.
Rasmussen Reports delivered some more bad news for Democrats today, specifically Milwaukee mayor and presumptive Democratic gubernatorial nominee Tom Barrett. In a poll of 500 likely voters conducted Tuesday (margin of error 4.5%), he trails both of the main Republican challengers. Barrett trails Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker 48%-38% (with 12% unsure), and he trails former Congressman Mark Neumann 42%-38% (with 13% unsure).
While the public Rasmussen story merely mentions that both Republicans have significant leads over Barrett among those who don’t consider themselves part of either party, the Walker campaign in their press release notes that Walker has a 2-1 lead in that category.
For those playing along at home, Walker’s lead is more than double the margin of error, while Neumann’s lead is almost the margin of error. Moreover, that 38% that Barrett got against both Walker and Neumann is what the Democrats would get if they ran “Insert Candidate Here”, which combined with Barrett’s lack of effort beyond fundraising, is precisely what is running on that side of the aisle.
The favorability ratings are not exactly favorable for either Barrett or Neumann:
Walker has an “Approval Index” of +14 (29% very favorable/15% very unfavorable), and an overall approval/disapproval split of 56%-27%.
Neumann has an “Approval Index” of -1 (10% very favorable/11% very unfavorable), and an overall approval/disapproval split of 46%-35%.
Barrett has an “Approval Index” of +2 (19% very favorable/17% very unfavorable), and an overall approval/disapproval split of 44%-41%.
While the September WPRI/UW-Madison poll did not address the general election, it did address the favorability of all three candidates. At that time, a majority of those surveyed either had never heard of the three (an option not in the Rasmussen poll) or did not have an opinion on approval:
Walker had an “Approval Index” was +5.6 (12.6% very favorable/7.0% very unfavorable), with an overall approval/disapproval split of 29.7%-15.9%, 36.3% never hearing of him, and 18.1% not knowing enough.
Barrett had an “Approval Index” of +8.9 (12.0% very favorable/3.1% very unfavorable), with an overall approval/disapproval split of 35.9%-12.0%, 33.3% never hearing of him, and 18.9% not knowing enough.
Neumann had an “Approval Index” of +1.0 (5.1% very favorable/4.1% very unfavorable), with an overall approval/disapproval split of 24.1%-12.2%, 39.0% never hearing of him, and 24.6% not knowing enough.
I guess the “conventional wisdom” that those outstate hate Milwaukee applies mostly to Milwaukee Democrats. At the same time people turned away from city of Milwaukee mayor Tom Barrett, and had a very mixed reaction to Mark Neumann, they seem to have embraced Milwaukee County executive Scott Walker.
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At the time of the first Politico story, Kevin noted the lengthy “Hamlet-Brett Favre” act that Thompson has pulled since essentially the moment he left Madison for DC and the Bush administration. Indeed, Jim Geraghty noted that most of those who have not made a campaign of this magnitude official by this point have decided not to run. Bolstering that line of thinking is the reported 4th-quarter fundraising numbers by both Feingold and the more-conventional Republican challenger, Terrence Wall (both courtesy WisPolitics) – Feingold raised $947,000 to boost his warchest to $3.65 million, while Wall took in $500,000 in the first 7 weeks of his campaign. Despite Thompson’s wide name recognition and the fact that nomination papers aren’t circulated in Wisconsin until June, it’s going to take a lot of money to overcome the messaging money can buy, and there’s not a lot of time to get that money.
However, the timing and release of this poll strongly suggests that Thompson is preparing to jump in the race and overwhelm both the still-unknown Wall and the not-fundraising-and-yet-unknown Dave Westlake. Things are too far along for a major pollster to focus on a hypothetical without a very strong indication that the hypothetical will happen.
The key change in the fortunes of Feingold is that he has lost the independents. In September, he had a 39%-38% lead among “independents”; now, he’s losing them to Thompson 53%-36%. That overwhelms his recapturing of self-described Democrats.
Worse, Feingold’s unfavorables have skyrocketed. In September, his Approval Index (strong approval less strong disapproval) was +9 (23% strong approval, 14% strong disapproval, with the overall at 54% approval-30% disapproval). Now, it’s at -4 (26% strong approval, 30% strong disapproval, with the overall at 47% approval-48% disapproval).
American voters have made themselves clear. Three months ago, voters in New Jersey and Virginia rejected the Democrats’ tax-and-spend agenda. Now, in the bluest of blue states, the people of Massachusetts sent a message to Democrats across the country: listen or you’ll be next.
From the failed stimulus, to the cap-and-trade national energy tax, to a government takeover of health care attempt shrouded with secrecy, the American people do not approve of the Democrats’ big-government policies that do nothing to create jobs. Voters are connecting with Republican candidates because of our principles of lower-taxes, smaller government, and fiscal responsibility.
Scott Brown’s victory in Massachusetts should serve as the latest reminder to Wisconsin Democrats that voters are watching. Instead of telling their constituents what is good for them and blindly following their Washington leadership, it’s time for Wisconsin Democrats like Russ Feingold, Steve Kagen, Ron Kind, and Dave Obey to start listening.
The election in Massachusetts yesterday should serve as a stunning wake-up call that we the conservatives, the small government folks, are not going to take it anymore.
The politicians in Washington have focused on health care, bailouts, stimulus, tax increases, and all sorts of other plans to expand government. Meanwhile on main streets all across Wisconsin people are struggling to keep their jobs and to keep their businesses afloat in this poor economy.
We must elect people who will get government out of the way so jobs, real long term jobs can be created in the private sector. Government does not create private sector jobs. We do!!! For us business owners to be successful, government must get out of our way and not take what sometimes seems to be more than we make in taxes.
Career politicians do not seem to understand that the vast majority of the money that small business owners make in Wisconsin is immediately reinvested in our businesses. When they take it in the form of higher taxes and fees (as if we don’t get that fees are simply another tax) we cannot grow our businesses and create more jobs. And the career politicians who understand this basic concept have been completely ineffective in doing anything about it! When push comes to shove, career politicians seem to protect their job by growing government instead of protecting the jobs of thousands of Wisconsinites by shrinking government.
Yesterday should serve as a wake-up call to all the big-government politicians. The people in this great nation are not going to take it anymore!!! Start focusing on what you can do in government to get out of the way and to lower our taxes so we can grow our businesses and create jobs.
Congratulations Senator-elect Scott Brown! You’ve given the people of Mass. what they need: accountability…and the rest of us something to look foward to: common sense & Constitutionally-based government. We’re proud of you and wish you all the best in representing “The Peoples’ Seat.” Godspeed.
Yes, it is cold outside, and the election is still over 10 months away, but we have some heat going on in Wisconsin:
Republican Mark Neumann put over $1 million of his own money into his gubernatorial campaign. That, along with a reported $974,000 cash on hand number, masks the fact that he did not reach $250,000 outside of his own pocket. Meanwhile, Democrat Tom Barrett reported raising $750,000 since he announced and along with $800,000 from his mayoral campaign, $1.5 million cash on hand, and Republican Scott Walker is expected to announce more than $900,000 raised in the second half of 2009 with around $2 million cash on hand.
Speaking of fundraising, Senate candidate Dave Westlake has decided to limit his fundraising efforts to sales of blaze-orange campaign shirts and no-pressure donations, prefering to meet everybody he can face-to-face. While it is admirable, it is impossible to meet more than a small portion of the electorate statewide.
Staying on the Senate race, Terrence Wall has officially jumped into the race after a couple months of touring the state.
Despite the only roles of lieutenant governor being serving as a general-election running mate of the governor, being the first in line to fill a gubernatorial vacancy, and having the full authority of governor on any board the governor is entitled to sit that he chooses to fill with the lieutenant, Kleefisch, Ross and Collins have taken more stands on issues on their campaign websites than Barrett. Indeed, Barrett’s website only has donation and volunteer links on it.
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The full list of speakers is quite long, so I’ll send you over to the Racine Tea Party’s site for them. The weather is even supposed to cooperate, with sun and 30s expected.
Given that the GAAP deficit for FY2009 was larger than the amount of Porkulus used to try to plug the sucking chest wound black hole that is the Wisconsin state budget, Rebecca Kleefisch has a short message for the politicians in Madison, both now and those that will arrive next year…
The “unreserved fund balance” deficit in the general fund was $3,121 million, which was $269 million higher than it was in 2008. From page 28 of the report, “A deficit unreserved fund balance represents the excess of the liabilities of the General Fund over its assets and reserved fund balance accounts. Reservations of fund balances of governmental funds represent amounts that are not available for appropriation. Examples of fund balance reservations reported in the General Fund include reserves for encumbrances, inventories, prepaid items, and the Budget Stabilization Fund.”
The net asset situation is also not good (see page 22). While the total net assets for the state was $11,831 million, it represents a drop of $970 million (or 7.6%) from FY2008.
Continuing on that theme, the largest portion of the net assets, capital assets, was a net $17,142 million. You may have noticed that it is significantly higher than the net assets. Allow me to explain this.
Once the $17,142 million in capital and $3,600 million in “restricted” (by either the state Constitution or statute, and not available for day-to-day operations) assets are subtracted from the net assets, the “unrestricted” net assets, which the report notes would be available for day-to-day operations if it were a surplus, ran a deficit of $8,910 million, an increase of $817 million from last year. Again quoting the report, “Therefore, based on this measurement, no funds were available for discretionary purposes.”
Because for accounting purposes, long-term obligations are recognized at the time they are incurred, two items weigh heavily on that negative “unrestricted” net asset number – the $2,712 million general-fund deficit, and $16,328 million in long-term obligations. The latter number, which includes $975 million that is due by June 30, 2010, is a $17 million increase, due entirely to a $462 million (5%) increase in “governmental activity” long-term debt.
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The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports that the only entity to bid on the replacement of three compromised bridges in the Zoo Interchange, a consortium of Edward Kraemer & Sons Inc., Lunda Construction Co. and Zenith Tech (which also was a prime contractor for the rebuild of the Marquette Interchange), won the contract with a $11.3 million bid to relocate the bridges and adjust the traffic patterns accordingly. During “negotiations” with the Department of Transportation to actually meet the terms of the bid (one and only one weekend full closure per structure, with all remaining shoulder/single-lane closures limited to overnights), that amount rose by $4 million to $15.3 million.
Given that the bid request stated that any bid that contained more than the alloted amount of full closures would be considered “non-responsive”, and that all single-lane/shoulder closures be done during the overnight hours under pain of penalty, why would the cost go up by over 35% to ensure that would happen?
Sean Duffy is doing what they said can’t be done – working on retiring ossified liberal Democrat Rep. David Obey (D-WI). As part of that, and in the spirit of the first Tea Party 236 years ago today, he has launched the Strike a Blow for Freedom money bomb.
As the former chair and current ranking Republican on the Assembly Education Committee, I am alarmed at the current state of Milwaukee Public Schools (MPS). With 65% of eighth grade math students scoring below basic levels, it is clear that drastic changes must take place.
However, before taking a vote on such an important issue that will affect thousands of families in MPS, I need to gather more information to alleviate some of my concerns. Rather than blindly handing complete control of the system over to you without any specific details, I am requesting that you share your vision of how to improve MPS. It is imperative that the status quo is not allowed to continue for the future of Milwaukee students and taxpayers.
Specifically, I would like information from you, including:
Your plans to address the unfunded pension liability issues that were raised in the Wisconsin Policy Research Institute report this week.
The specific labor contract changes you believe are necessary to ensure long term fiscal stability for the school district.
How you will address failing schools.
Your plans to address the abysmal MPS academic performance highlighted in the recent Trial Urban District Assessment (TUDA) report from the Institute of Educational Sciences.
The tools you are willing to use to hold schools and teachers accountable for their performance in educating the children entrusted to them.
You are welcome to come to our Republican caucus to address these specific issues. Should you have any questions regarding my request, please contact me at 608-266-1192. I look forward to learning your specific ideas on reforming MPS and increasing student achievement.
Sincerely,
Brett Davis
State Representative
80th District
Given the only semi-successful mayoral takeovers of public schools in recent memory happened in New York City and Washington, DC, and both school districts still lag so far behind the private schools that in DC, Marion Berry (yes, THAT Marion Berry) is a school-choice advocate, those are just starting points for the questioning of the effectiveness of taking MPS away from the school board.
Do note I’m not saying that the MPS board, and indeed the entire culture of MPS, doesn’t need to be replaced wholesale; indeed, that needs to be done post-haste. My concern is that one failed leadership regime will be replaced by another like regime.
This came into Charlie Sykes’ mailbox a while ago from former Thompson-era Department of Administration secretary James Klauser:
7. December, 2009
Dear Friend:
Jim Doyle, after 8 years, will leave Wisconsin state and local finances in a shambles. In his first term he spent and borrowed; in his second term he spent more, borrowed more, raised taxes and used the Obama stimulus dollars to cover the deficit. Those Obama dollars will soon be gone. Jim Doyle prudently decided not to seek re-election. Instead he handpicked the Mayor of Milwaukee, a former liberal Democrat Congressman, Tom Barrett to run instead. The Doyle team managed to intimidate out of the race any potential serious challenger.
Tom Barrett is a decent, pleasant fellow. He can accurately be characterized as being indecisive and uncreative…sort of bland. However he is very liberal. He makes Doyle’s liberalism pale. Barrett has a record in every public office he has held of increasing spending and raising taxes. The Doyle-Barrett team is hostile to school choice and charter schools; they are opposed to the reforms to welfare initiated by Governor Thompson. The Doyle-Barrett team would continue to allow our transportation infrastructure to erode. After 7 years Doyle-Barrett figured out there are problems with the Milwaukee school system….duh! Their solution…double duh!
Initially Doyle blamed the fiscal mess on the previous administration; now he excuses it because of the national economy. The truth of the matter is it relates to his profligacy and spending/borrowing patterns. The Doyle-Barrett taxes are impeding our economic recovery. Their social policies such as climate change programs are killing jobs.
The Doyle-Barrett team is already working on sustaining liberals in office. Left-wing liberal groups such as Acorn, One Wisconsin and a variety of other front groups are today working in Wisconsin to keep these liberals in power. Obama needs Wisconsin for his re-election. He will be in this with both feet.
While the election is months away it is forcefully underway. 2009 saw the Conservative/Republican candidates compete. Now is the time to come together and support the strongest candidate who has the best chance to win.
I have been impressed with the growth and effort of Scott Walker this past year. He has truly earned his spurs. He is working hard; he has built a great organization; his campaign is drawing more people to it every day. He has sharpened his message. He has maintained his principles and integrity. We can expect the same in Madison.
This campaign will not be easy. The liberal other side is not above fallacious exaggeration and distortion. Scott needs our support to carry forward and win the election in November (which is not that far away). If you have not already committed, I encourage you to join me in endorsing and supporting Scott Walker for Governor. Let’s straighten out the Doyle-Barrett messes. We can believe in Wisconsin again.
Back in April, just before Walker announced he was running, Klauser endorsed Neumann. Last month, after Neumann gained no real traction with the right-of-center crowd, Klauser pulled his support and his wife resigned as the treasurer of the Neumann campaign.
While I am relieved that Walker won’t have to face a serious challenger, I am saddened that the Neumann campaign has flamed out so spectacularily.
A few years ago, Governor Jim “Craps” Doyle (WEAC/HoChunk-For Sale) and Milwaukee Mayor Tom “Milk Carton” Barrett conspired to delay the rebuilding of the Zoo Interchange, which links I-94, the northwest terminus of I-894, and US-45, in order to focus on rebuilding and widening the stretch of I-94 between the Mitchell Interchange (just north of the airport, which links I-94/US-41, the southeast terminus of I-894, and I-43) and the Wisconsin-Illinois state line. Indeed, with the effective elimination of funding for engineering work in the FY2010-2011 budget, the delayed target start date of 2014 was considered ambitious.
In August, the Department of Transportation placed weight limits on three of the bridges in the interchange due to deterioration:
– The northbound US-45 bridge over eastbound I-94 – 30 tons (3/4ths of the 40-ton national legal limit)
– The bridge connecting southbound US-45 and eastbound I-94 over westbound I-94 and US-45 – 35 tons
– The bridge connecting northbound I-894/US-45 to westbound I-94 over eastbound I-94 and southbound I-894/US-45 – 40 tons (which precludes use by any trucks with overweight permits)
Now, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel is reporting that the DOT has issued a call for bids for the emergency replacement of those three bridges because follow-up inspections revealed that the three structures wouldn’t last until even 2012 as the supports are cracked and corroded. The estimated cost is somewhere between $12 million and $22 million, depending on how the replacements are done, with anticipated completion by Memorial Day weekend 2010.
Complicating matters are the closure requirements:
– No closures affecting more than one bridge at any time
– Except for a single weekend full closure per bridge, all shoulder or single-lane closures must be between 11 pm and 5 am
Given the other bridges in and just south of the interchange are of the same age, I have to wonder whether they’ll last until they’re replaced sometime after 2014.
I’ve been out of steam for a while, but I think I have some now. Let’s see what I missed:
Tom “Milk Carton” Barrett decided to be the “savior” of the Democratic Party of Wisconsin and announced that he would be the de facto nominee for governor on Sunday. The timing was not a mistake; ever since Jim “Craps” Doyle (WEAC/HoChunk-For Sale) figured out all the money from the tribes, the unions and the lawyers, as well as 100% control over the state-level electoral process, couldn’t save his hide, the Dems have been looking for a Missiah on the level of Barack Hussein Obama II.
Related to that, the RPW and the Walker campaign immediately seized upon Barrett’s love of tax hikes (he voted for the then-largest state tax hike in history, the still-largest federal tax hike in history, and raised taxes, created and raised mandatory fees, and imposed a then-36% increase in the wheel tax that has proven so unpopular, Beloit dropped a lower version of it) and called him Tommy the Taxer. If there’s one thing outstate Wisconsinites hate more than Milwaukee-area conservatives, it is Milwaukee tax-hiking liberals.
Lou Dobbs got a $8 million parting gift from CNN as they strive to be “objective” be a clone of PMSDNC (H/T – Ace).
The Wall Street Journal editorial board has a two-fer on PlaceboCare today – they eviscerate the Baucus version of the Death Panel (hint; if you think the upfront cuts in Medicare Advantage are the only cuts that program will sustain, you’re sorely mistaken), and then they take on a proposed radical expansion of the Medicare tax into a “progressive” as well as a general income tax to replace the proposed tax on “lavish” health benefits.
A week after stinking up Raymond James Stadium to give the last winless team a win, the Packers crushed the Cowpokes. Which Packers team is the real one?
Speaking of Obama, he and Attorney General Eric Holder decided New York was the perfect place to drag KSM and buds for a civilian trial. What could possibly go wrong from a security standpoint (other than things that preclude the DC or Northern Virginia district court handle it, like truck bombs)?
Continuing the “what could possibly go wrong” theme, why not put them in the military commissions the Cole bombing group is going into? Last I checked, the Pentagon is a military installation. Could it be that they want KSM to walk on a technicality, or could it be that they want Al Qaeda to learn all of our methods of stuffing them the last 8 years?
Speaking of Club Gitmo, the latest place President Present wants to stick the detainees is in the state where he earned the nickname “Present”, specifically in a facility not exactly designed for this kind of work. Again, what could possibly go wrong with putting a bunch of Islamokazis in a generic maximum-security about 3 hours from Milwaukee and Chicago, and spitting distance from the Mississippi River and one of the lock-and-dam combos on same?
In case you haven’t noticed, I am a race fan. That is why it saddens me to have to tell you that the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel has reported that Milwaukee Mile promoter-to-be Historic Mile LLC has pulled out after failing to get enough financing to pay NASCAR for the 2009 races put on by previous promoter Wisconsin Motorsports, an amount previously reported to be $1.8 million.
However, the news isn’t quite completely hopeless. Despite that collapse, Dave Kallman reports that NASCAR has not yet pulled the scheduled 2010 dates, the same weekend as the Sprint Cup race in Sonoma, California, partly because nobody else wants those dates, and partly because there’s still hope that a group headed by former promoter Frank Giuffre and including enough money to make that payment will get the rights to the track.
A bit of history of recent promoters and the State Fair Park board is in order, with a lot of help on the numbers from the various reports on State Fair operations between 2002 and 2009 from the Legislative Audit Bureau and drawing on the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel for recent events:
In 1992, CART car owner Carl Haas took over race promotions at the Mile from Frank and Dominic Giuffre, who had been bought out by the board. In exchange for exclusive promotion rights (with one guaranteed major race required, CART’s June race usually held the weekend after the Indy 500, and an effort to secure a second), access to the board’s bonding authority, and most of the revenues generated by the track, Haas Racing Inc. would pay a guaranteed rent of $300,000 and service any track-improvement debt financed through said bonding authority. By 2001, that debt service had become over $375,000 per year.
In 1995, Haas Racing had secured that second major race, with NASCAR coming back with the Busch Series after a 2-year run in the 1980s and the then-new Craftsman Truck Series.
After Haas Racing lost $1 million in both 2000 and 2001, due in large part to the failing condition of CART in its losing war against the Indy Racing League, they and the board agreed to finally replace the crumbling 1930s WPA-built grandstand and somewhat-newer bleachers to the tune of $20 million, with the bleachers replaced in time for the 2002 racing season and the grandstand replaced in time for the 2003 racing season to help alleviate that. Of note, while Haas Racing lost $1 million in 2001, the State Fair made $395,000 off that agreement.
An estimate done by a private company in 2000, specifically the same one that did an analysis of the effects of building what became the very-troubled Expo Center (that story is for another post), claimed that, after a 1st-year loss of about $200,000, the new grandstand and the additional dates and revenues it would allow would let Haas make a profit of between $360,000 and $720,000.
As part of that construction, the board and Haas Racing restructured their deal in 2002 to eliminate the minimum guaranteed rental, change the debt-service requirement to be in effect only if Haas turned a profit, create a hard 50% profit-sharing agreement, give the board veto rights over Haas Racing’s track operating budget, and give the board several new termination rights.
In November 2002, Jim Doyle (D) won the gubernatorial election over Scott McCallum (R), who took over the governor’s office in 2001 when Tommy Thompson left to become HHS Secretary. That began to shift the makeup of the board as two members of the cabinet (the secretary of tourism and the secretary of agriculture, trade and consumer protection) are automatically members, and the 7 other members not tied to the Legislature (each house has a majority and a minority member) are appointed by the governor to 5-year terms.
In May 2003, citing a loss to the Fair Park of $341,743 due entirely to $376,000 in debt-service payments Haas Racing did not make as they did not make a profit in 2002 (thanks also in part to the bleacher-only nature of the track in 2002 as the new grandstand was not complete), the board bought out the contract for $250,000 two days before the CART racing weekend and took over operations. That grandstand had been greatly scaled back to reduce its cost, which also had the effect of reducing its money-generating potential.
Despite getting IRL to come to the Mile in 2004, the board lost $693,600 on track operations in 2003 (including the $250,000 buyout of Haas Racing), $3.6 million in 2004, and $2.9 million in 2005. Debt service increased to $1.8-$1.9 million in the latter two years as the full effect of the new grandstand and other track improvements mandated by the various series took effect. Of note, the 2004 LRB report made the claim that the 2000 study was grossly optimistic, but failed to note that the scope of the grandstand rebuild was cut.
The board attempted to get an unnamed promoter to assume operation of the track beginning in late 2004, with requirements that the promoter pay off the entire remaining debt service through the license fee, secure a letter of credit to ensure that 2 years’ of payment would be made, and pay for all maintenance and future improvements to the track outside the board’s bonding authority, but that initial attempt fell through in April 2005.
Doyle was the grand marshal for the NASCAR Busch Series race in June 2005, and he was roundly booed (I remember because I was at that race).
In August 2005, with Doyle appointees, cabinet members and the Democrats now in the majority, Milwaukee Mile Holdings LLC, a brand-new entity with no prior experience at track promotion, was announced as the new promoter, and they took over in 2006, with an average license fee of $1.8 million. The board did give MMH parking revenues for the 134 days per year it had control over the track (something not originally envisioned, and something that Haas Racing did not enjoy), secured the first year of the $3.6 million line of credit for MMH (with a requirement that MMH renew it annually), and knocked $1.5 million off the 2006 fee. MMH also acquired a 4-year right to buy a park-surrounded property owned by a gas company and give it to the board after remediation in exchange for board-owned property between the track (still owned by the board) and Greenfield Ave to the south.
With ChampCar (nee CART) departing the Mile after the 2006 season, MMH was once again reduced to two major series weekends, with the IRL assuming the CART/ChampCar weekend-after-Indy date in 2007.
In April 2007, MMH assigned its right to buy that gas tank farm to the board (which then bought the land from the gas company) and agreed to pay the board for that transaction if it decided to acquire the land south of the track (never acquired), while the board agreed to defer $722,000 of the $1.8 million payment from June 2007 to December 2007 and agreed that the license agreement could be reopened after the 2007 racing season.
In December 2007, MMH filed notice of claim against the board seeking $6.4 million and a release from the license agreement claiming, among other things, a loss of a track sponsor due to the board’s actions and a misreprentation of revenues in the 2005 negotiations.
In February 2008, MMH and the board agreed on modifications, including a reduction and further deferral of that $722,000 down to $400,000, a reduction in the license fee to $1 million (with a sliding-scale deferral of those payments to 2017-2023), a reduction in the number of days MMH had control of the track to 75, and a change in the land swap from ownership to ground-lease rights on a smaller parcel. It also required MMH to secure a fresh letter of credit that included all the defered payments by March 2008.
MMH failed to do so by either March 2008 or its original annual renewal date of August 31, 2008. They claimed to have sustained $5.1 million in losses since 2006, and wanted to get rid of the license fee entirely before providing an updated letter of credit. The 2009 LAB memo on State Fair operations is unclear whether one was produced for 2009.
MMH ultimately provided a 2-year notice of termination in December 2008, stating at that time it could not pay the IRL or NASCAR fees, and giving the board permission to get another promoter. The board and the Department of Justice responded in February 2009 by terminating the license agreement due to a lack of a letter of credit, deemed by the DOJ as an act of default. The 2009 LAB report indicates that the DOJ plans on suing MMH for $2.7 million in damages.
MMH then-President of Operations Charles Napier formed Wisconsin Motorsports LLC to assume racing operations, which then entered into a 10-year agreement with the board – $180,000 in license fees plus 10% of gross monthly revenue (less only directly-related sales costs and NASCAR/IRL sanctioning fees). That revenue-sharing was to be capped at $300,000 in 2009, $350,000 in 2010, $400,000 in 2011, and $450,000 in 2012.
Meanwhile, three things severely hampered Wisconsin Motorsports’ ability to make a go of it in 2009, even if they had money and not just a couple people who worked for MMH:
The economy continued to crater.
Wisconsin Motorsports decided to honor $1 million in tickets sold by MMH even though MMH did not turn over the money. Related to that, MMH owed vendors between $500,000 and $800,000 as of May 2009.
NASCAR implemented a ban on unsanctioned testing at all tracks where it runs a race at any level. In previous years, since the Winston/Nextel/Sprint Cup Series did not have a race at the Mile, Cup teams could test here, usually in preparation for the races at New Hampshire.
Unfortunately, Wisconsin Motorsports did not have the money. They owe IRL about $200,000 in unpaid sanctioning fees, and despite NASCAR taking all the vendor money directly during their weekend here, they owe NASCAR $1.8 million in unpaid sanctioning fees.
In July 2009, Wisconsin Motorsports went under, and cancelled the Wisconsin All-Star Weekend scheduled for the end of August. Limited minor events, such as an SCCA event, did go on, while the board searched for a new promoter. The board declared that it would not be responsible for the overdue sanctioning fees.
In August 2009, Historic Mile LLC, comprised of Tony Machi, Jim Beaudoin, and Wisconsin Motorsports GM/COO Steve Jones (who left the group later in the month), was announced as the intended promoter for 2010. That was dependent on them getting committments from IRL (which had already released its 2010 schedule without the Mile on it) and NASCAR. They were chosen over several other groups, including one featuring the Giuffre brothers and reportedly including long-time CART/IRL team owner and owner of the Menard’s home improvement store chain John Menard (later confirmed to be part of the group).
In mid-September 2009, NASCAR announced that the Mile would have both Camping World Truck and Nationwide Series dates on the same weekend as the Sprint Cup race in Sonoma, just as in recent years.
Despite a disagreement between Historic Mile and the Giuffres on whether the Giuffres would provide Historic Mile a loan, as well as a lack of disclosure from Historic Mile who beyond Machi and Beaudoin was involved in that venture, the board and Historic Mile signed a 10-year agreemnent-in-principle at the end of September 2009. At the time, Machi claimed that Historic Mile made NASCAR “happy” (since disproven).
Simultaneously, while Dominic Giuffre said he was no longer interested in running the Mile, Frank said he was, and listed his other partners as Menard, fellow track promoter John Kaishian, and the Deckers that put on Eagle River’s World Championship Snowmobile Derby.
The pieces behind Lieutenant Governor Barbara Lawton’s decision to suddenly pull out of the Democratic governor’s race continue to shift around:
The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel’s crowing over ousting Lawton includes a juicy tidbit from (former) supporter Sen. Jim Sullivan (D-Wauwatosa) – “He said she gave no indication at the time (Saturday when he traveled to La Crosse to campaign for her) that she might not run but called him Monday to say she was stepping aside because of what he called ‘family challenges.”
The Wisconsin State Journal quoted both former Democratic Attorney General Peg Lautenschlager and former DPW chair Matt Flynn as saying it was for “family reasons”.
In an interview with the Associated Press (via WTMJ-AM), Lawton said that not only was the decision reached after talking to her husband and adult children, but that she would also not run again for her current job of Lieutenant Governor.
Revisions/extensions (11:50 am 10/27/2009) – In an interview with WIBA-AM, Barbara Lawton flatly denied any extramarital affair. I apologize to the Lawton family.
Wauwatosa – The campaign of Scott Walker, Republican candidate for governor and Milwaukee County executive, today announced the launch of the 11.02.09 Rally to Victory Effort – a day-long fundraising drive. The effort will be held on November 2, 2009, exactly one year from Election Day, and will be led by a statewide, grassroots fundraising push to engage supporters across Wisconsin. The 11.02.09 Rally to Victory Effort will use the internet and numerous social media outlets to gather pledges to donate on 11.02.09 as a show of grassroots strength, organization, and momentum.
“The people of our state are ready to take back our government and ready to believe in Wisconsin again,” said campaign manager Keith Gilkes. “Our 11.02.09 Rally to Victory fundraising effort will show the support for Scott Walker’s commonsense message of limited government, personal freedom, and economic growth.”
Since Scott Walker’s announcement of candidacy in April, the campaign has garnered tremendous grassroots support. Walker has the endorsement of over 75 percent of elected Republicans in the State Legislature and received over 93% of the straw poll vote at the 2009 Republican Party of Wisconsin State Convention. Ten recent training sessions across the state saw over 800 attendees.
In the last fundraising period Scott Walker raised an impressive $1.1 million. Of that number, $236,000 came from online contributions. 75% of Scott Walker’s $1.1 million in contribution were for $50 or less, and half of all contributions came from new donors
Comments Off on Team Walker to have a money bomb on 11/2/2009
Revisions/extensions (11:11 am 10/27/2009) – WTAQ-AM has pulled all references to the report from Jerry Bader on a possible extramarital affair by Barbara Lawton from its website. Accordingly, I have removed the direct link to that audio from this post.
R&E part 2 (11:46 am 10/27/2009) – WIBA-AM asked Barbara Lawton about that rumor, and Lawton called it an “outrageous lie”.
And yes, it is curious that the only announced Democratic candidate for governor, Lieutenant Governor Barbara Lawton, suddenly dropped out of the race today for “very personal reasons”.
Bice also pointed out that none of the Barrett backers were willing to be named as the source of this whacking. If Barrett truly has the ObamiNation Stamp of Approval, wouldn’t that trump the 8-year war the Madison Dems have successfully waged against their Milwaukee counterparts?
Don’t assume that the whacking of Babs simply clears the way for Barrett. Kyle Maichle tossed another name in the ring from left field – Commerce Secretary Dick Leinenkugel. Other than a late-but-successful effort to get Mercury Marine to consolidate in Wisconsin (with attendant tax hikes), what exactly has Leinenkugel done as Commerce Secretary, other than not be from Milwaukee? Admittedly, that has counted for everything in the DPW the last 8 years, but simply being from anywhere but Milwaukee is not going to be enough in this election cycle, especially when one is so easily tied to the failed economic policies of Governor Jim Doyle.
Meanwhile, this afternoon, WTAQ’s Jerry Bader unleashed a bombshell of what those “very personal reasons” could be (H/T – Kevin Binversie). Bill Clinton notwithstanding, getting caught playing outside the sandbox is definitely frowned upon by the voters.Note; see the revision/extension above, as the link to WTAQ’s audio has been removed, and Lawton has flatly denied this.
Finally, I know I saw this a couple weeks ago, but I can’t quite remember where. Doyle seems to be having second thoughts about not running. I note that he has not filed a notice of non-candidacy yet.
WisPolitics carried a press release from the Doyle administration claiming that just short of $680 million in 1st-reporting-quarter Porkulus spending “created” or “saved” 8,284 full-time jobs, including over 6,100 “essential” government jobs “saved” (e.g. firefighters, police offers and teachers). Doc over at The Autopsy hammers for effect on the “essential saved” jobs:
And let’s be honest, this is a little bit of legerdemain. Do you think Wisconsin would really lay off 6100 firefighters, policemen and teachers? Of course not. That would be political suicide for Democrats as each is unionized. (I’m a teacher in a public school, and I’ve lost 5% of my income.) So did the stimulus really “save” those jobs? No. What it did was allow the state to say they would have cut those jobs had there been no stimulus.
As an analogy, suppose I get $100,000 from a benefactor, then say, “Thank goodness I got the money, or I would have had to sell my kids for medical experiments!” Would I really sell my kids? Of course not. But that’s the impression I’m giving by saying they were “saved” by the $100,000 donation.
The Doyle Administration’s announcement that its use of stimulus dollars has lead to saving or creating 8,284 state jobs is an embarrassment to our state. Not only did these ‘jobs’ come at a cost of over $82,000 each, policies like combined reporting and higher taxes have cost Wisconsin over 130,000 jobs in the past year alone. Doyle and the Democrats are out of touch and out of ideas, and, sadly, Wisconsin is out of jobs because of their failed policies.
I’ll point back to something the Fond du Lac Reporter noted when the Fond du Lac County Board rammed home a massive tax increase for the benefit of Mercury Marine – for a tax subsidy to an employer to make economic sense, it should be somewhere on the order of $20,000 per job. Last I checked, $82,000 is well above $20,000.
The biggest laugh is White House-mandated math that allows the state to claim those over-6,100 jobs “saved” and less-than-2,100 jobs “created” (assuming that any were actually “created” as opposed to “saved”) as a direct result of Porkulus “created or saved” 22,100 jobs over 6 months and will “create or save” 70,000 jobs over the 2 years of Porkulus. There is no way that a government job creates almost 3 private-sector jobs over 6 months or 9 private-sector jobs over 2 years.
Even if that were the case, note how many jobs Wisconsin has lost over the last year with the various new taxes and the cratering of the economy – 130,000. That is what is called an EPIC FAIL.
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