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 the 'Politics – Wisconsin' Category

January 18, 2008

Darshan Dhaliwal, Pubbie-only donor?

That is exactly what Raquel Rutledge, Jennie Tunkieicz, Ben Poston, and their editors at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel would want you to believe. In their story about how Dhaliwal sold unbranded gasoline as BP gasoline, they gleefully point out how closely he was tied to both Tommy Thompson and President Bush.

Just one sliiiiiiiiiiight problem; they never heard of Jessica McBride. Her very-quick search through the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign archives revealed a who’s-who of Democrats and liberals very-amply supported by Dhaliwal, including $17,000 to Jim Doyle (almost twice the amount given to both the Thompson state and federal campaigns combined) and a $500 donation to Louis Butler during his previous, failed run for the state Supreme Court.

I decided to run Dhaliwal’s various donations, both state and federal (the latter from the FEC), through the spreadsheet, and imagine my surprise to find the following over the last 16 years (14 on the federal side):

– $75,980 in donations to 58 Democrats and liberal-leaning candidates and committees overall
– $53,280 in donations to the Wisconsin (not federal) campaigns of 48 Democrats and liberal-leaning candidates and committees
– $21,800 in donations to 13 Republican candidates overall (no non-Republican conservative-leaning candidates or committees)
– $17,500 in donations to the Wisconsin (not federal) campaigns of 11 Republicans

Hmmm, why do you think the Fifth Column at Fourth and State only mentioned Thompson and Bush, and went out of their way to avoid any mention of Democrats or Loophole Louis? Could it be that the presstitute-‘Rat alliance has elections to ste…er, win?

January 16, 2008

If at first you don’t succeed,…

by @ 18:45. Filed under Politics - Wisconsin, WTPA.

…try, try again to get a handle on taxes and spending (H/T – Kevin Fischer).

I wish I could believe that this would make it through the Senate, but I have my doubts that it will even make it out of the Assembly.

The corn-a-hole whores are back

by @ 15:26. Filed under Corn-a-hole, Politics - Wisconsin.

(H/T – Mark Belling)

As the title says, they’re back, and they’re worse than ever. Not only will Senate Bill 380 require that a significant portion of fuel sold in Wisconsin be made from overpriced corn, which has already started to ripple price increases through the entire food chain, but starting in 2015, permanently park most of the vehicles currently on the road by mandating that percentage of corn-a-hole be higher than what the fuel systems in those vehicles can handle.

Especially egregious is the role that Luther Olsen (RepubicRAT), whose brother is in the process of making his fortune in the ethanol business, is playing.

I’ll just hit “publish” now before I start unleasing an AoS-worthy string of expletives.

Revisions/extensions (2:49 pm 1/17/2008) – Allow me to continue with a further rant brought up from the comments….

(Current engines) “can” (be modified to run on E25, E85, E100, et al), but how much is that going to run me? $500? $1000? Why should I have to pay to retrofit my 2004 Subaru (or 2009 non-flex-fuel Chevy, or 2002 Saturn, or…you get the idea) just so I can keep my car on the road while burning more fuel?

Why should I be forced to buy a new lawn mower, or a new snow blower, or a new chainsaw, or a new boat engine (assuming, of course, they’ll be able to handle E25; many of those already have problems handling E10)?

I’m (barely) able to afford this “upgrade”. What about those that can’t? Are we going to tell them, “Tough luck. Hop on that bus so we can throw more money down that rat hole. Oh, and relearn the ‘joys’ of push mowers and shoveling.”? Are we going to force those that can pay for the “upgrade” to pay twice, thrice, and even more so the poor can stay in the 21st Century? Oh hell no.

The fraud-enablers in Madistan know no bounds

by @ 12:02. Filed under Politics - Wisconsin.

You do remember the exposing of hundreds of thousands of Social Security numbers on tax booklets by the Department of Revenue last year, right? The “good news” is they only exposed about 5,000 S.S. numbers this time around.

The bad – The Department of Health and Family Services jumped on the bandwagon, with 260,000 Senior Care recipients having their S.S. numbers printed on the outside of a brochure.

The ugly – The University of Wisconsin-Madison left 205 employees’ S.S. IDs hanging out in the ether. Worse, unlike the DOR, the DHFS and the contractors involved, UW is not going to offer credit-monitoring assistance despite the greater and continuing likelyhood of those numbers falling into the wrong hands.

January 14, 2008

Voluntary voter ID – where do I sign up?

by @ 13:18. Filed under Elections, Politics - Wisconsin.

(H/T – Owen)

I do not know how anybody who is not interested in stealing votes from legitimately-registered voters can be opposed to AB547, a bill that would allow registered voters to request that they be required to produce identification to cast a ballot. Indeed, this is a bipartisan proposal, with Christine Sinicki among those introducing the bill and Julie Lassa and Jeff Plale (my state Senator) among the Senate co-sponsors.

I want my vote protected whether I show up at the polls at 7 am or 7 pm, and this is a good way to do so.

January 9, 2008

Something rotten is going on at the Mitchell Interchange

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

Patrick has some exclusive video from a Citizens for Responsible Government press conference announcing support for the 27th Street businesses opposed to the closing of a portion of the I-43/894 ramp movements at 27th Street. Specifically, the DOT wants to shut off access to 27th Street from northbound I-94 (coming from the south) and from 27th Street to southbound I-94, prefering to shove all that traffic onto Layton Avenue. There are two schools on 20th Street (between 27th and I-94) within a half-mile of Layton, as well as a senior citizen complex on Layton between 20th and 27th.

The stated excuse is that traffic would have to cross too many lanes of traffic to get from the north-94-to-894 ramp to the 27th Street exit. While that is true right now (there is roughly 0.36 miles between the merge point of traffic coming from the north and south and the 27th Street exit, and essentially the same distance between the merge point of traffic coming from 27th and the split between northbound and southbound traffic)…

894-27th-current.jpg
Click for a full-sized pic (1048×892 pixels, 235KB); from Google Earth

…that is not true under the prefered alternative:

894-27th-proposed.jpg
Click for a full-sized pic (1211×768 pixels, 295KB); from WisDOT’s Map Safety and Design with Capacity – North Leg update

Note that the southbound 43/94 traffic that wants to exit onto 27th Street would get off the freeway before 20th Street, while traffic from 27th Street that wants to get onto northbound 43/94 will not merge with the “mainline” traffic at all and not merge with traffic committed to going north until 20th.

“So far, so what?”, you are probably saying. While the WisDOT has attempted to scrub any reference to direct access to 27th Street from the south from its project website, they forgot to “fix” the Draft Environmental Impact Statement, specifically Exhibit 2-7 focused on Layton Avenue (archived here):

exhibit-2-7.jpg
Click for a full-sized pic (1004×776 pixels, 175KB); from the Draft Environmental Impact Statement linked above

Do note the small ramps extending from the main north-to-west ramp and the southern-most ramp from eastbound in the first two alternatives. Those were the planned movements between 27th Street and I-94 toward the south, movements that would not have encountered the “mainline” I-43/I-894 at all. While there was a major change between the prefered alternative in the DEIS (which is missing those movements) to the current prefered alternative in that the traffic moving from eastbound 43/894 and 27th Street to northbound 43/94 goes under rather than over the “mainline” I-94, there is no logical impediment other than cost that would cause those movements to be eliminated. Given the movements west of the split from southbound 43/94 to 27th Street and especially the merge between the 27th Street on-ramp and northbound 43/94, there does not even appear to be any less land used by the movements’ elimination.

If the businesses of 27th Street are willing to pay for the additional cost of keeping the movements between 27th and I-94 toward the south, there is absolutely no logical explanation to eliminate said movements.

Gableman at the Center-Right – 1/22/2008

by @ 15:10. Filed under Politics - Wisconsin.

For those of you who were wondering whether there would be a Center-Right Coalition meeting this month, don’t fret. It is a bit later than usual, and it’s going to be on a different day of the week, but Mark Block and Brian Schimming have made a pretty good score. On Tuesday, January 22, Judge Mike Gableman will be the featured speaker at the Center-Right Coalition. As usual, it will be at The Madison Club (5 E Wilson in Madison) at 9 am (refreshments at 8:30). If you’re interested in going, let Mark know – markb – at – afphq – dot – org (though Mark reads this humble blog, I’m not the contact, so comments are off for this post).

A transparent effort – to turn Wisconsin into Illinois

It’s been a while since I grabbed the chainsaw and pruned a Journtinel idiotorial, but I believe I’m still in practice. Besides, they made it so easy with their rabid, partisan opposition to voter ID, so let the fisking begin:

The U.S. Supreme Court will take up the issue of voter identification today. It should side with the position that enables as many people as possible to vote.

Translation – it should side with the theft of elections. To that, I say, “Foxtrot Tango Sierra.”

It should see the effort to impose voter ID as a transparent attempt by Republicans to dampen voter turnout by a segment of the electorate that tends to vote Democratic. Fraud – what supporters say a requirement to show photo ID when voting is intended to combat – simply isn’t such a problem that it demands this solution. Milwaukee’s election problems in 2004 were principally about resources and record-keeping, not about voter identification.

Translation – it’s more important that DhimmiRATs win by every means necessary than to have honest elections. Once again, I say, “Foxtrot Tango Sierra.”

Regarding Milwaukee’s problems, they’re systematic, and there is no willingness at any level to deal with the big problem. That, however, is no excuse to not deal with the smaller problem.

Today, the justices will consider an Indiana law that requires voters to produce a state ID or a passport before being allowed to cast a ballot. Most states allow some other form of identification – a utility bill or a bank statement, for instance.

A state ID isn’t exactly fool-proof (it does not state whether one is a US citizen, which is a requirement to exercise one’s right to vote), but at least it’s better than a no-picture utility bill/bank statement.

In Wisconsin, which has same-day registration, registered voters need not show any photo ID at the polls. But to register, they need to produce a document that shows they live in the ward or district in which they are voting. If they can’t provide a driver’s license number, they can, for instance, give the last four digits of their Social Security number. Or they can attest that they have none of that and still get to vote.

Which proves that Wisconsin is ripe for fraud. Considering that there is, outside of the soon-to-be-ousted US Attorney for Eastern Wisconsin, nobody willing to prosecute any level of fraud, it’s just going to get worse.

Surprise, Wisconsin traditionally ranks high among the states in voter turnout. That turnout, we suspect, is what proponents of voter ID are really targeting. Sure, that likely means opponents want to get more Democrats to the polls. But one direction could lead to fewer people voting and the other more. It’s that simple.

Oh, really? I can’t speak for anybody else that is part of the Vast Right-Wing Conspiracy (charter member here), but my goal is to make sure that every legitimately-cast vote is counted once and only once. By the way, thanks for admitting your goal of a permanent-‘Rat majority by every means available, Pimentel.

In Wisconsin, the Republican-controlled state Assembly has voted to put the matter of voter ID on the ballot as a constitutional amendment. The Democrat-controlled state Senate is unlikely to go along.

Gee, I wonder why. Is it that they’re afraid they can’t manufacture votes?

Indiana is among the strictest of the handful of states – Arizona, Georgia, Florida and Missouri – that enacted voter ID, though the state cannot produce much evidence of voter fraud of the kind that this law would erase. Yes, those who challenged the law could not produce anyone harmed by the law, but that was, they say, because they filed the suit before it went into effect. In the interim, they point to 32 legal voters whose votes could not be counted because of the law.

Simple math should convince the justices to overturn the Indiana law. About 10% – or 20 million voting age citizens – don’t have a driver’s license or passport.

Do we really want to go into the math game? I can just as easily point to dozens of people that would probably be alive if Wisconsin had a concealed-carry law.

So go get one is the usual retort. But cost (unless they’re free) and transportation to do that are obstacles for many. In any case, why would we want to provide any disincentive for those eligible to vote in the first place?

Given that they need IDs to get government welfare, cash those government checks, and generally participate in society, that’s a bunch of freshly-dumped Bravo Sierra. To counter the disincentive, why should government do absolutely, positively nothing to ensure the integrity of said vote?

The message, intended or not, is that some eligible people don’t deserve the vote. That’s unacceptable.

What is unacceptable is that those votes can easily be stolen because we refuse to allow any safeguards whatsoever.

Wisconsin may or may not be a permanent-‘Rat majority state. I want to find out honestly, not through stolen elections.

January 3, 2008

Star Chamber

(H/T – Charlie)

Lest all the focus on the national get me termed “not a Wisconsin blog”, I really should turn the magnifying glass on the State Bar of Wisconsin’s attempt to monopolize all judicial races through the creation of the mis-named Wisconsin Judicial Campaign Integrity Committee. First, there’s the fact that it’s of the lawyers, by the lawyers, and for the lawyers. The funny thing is, the state Constitution doesn’t say anything about the lawyers controlling the process of electing judges.

Then there’s the makeup of that Star Chamber. Club for Growth Wisconsin went through the donation and volunteer records of the 8 members (non-voting chair and 7 voting members) and found some interesting things:

– 3 of the 8 have ties either personally or through spouses to Louis Butler’s campaign.
– 5 of 8 had ties to Linda Clifford’s failed campaign last year.
– 0 of 8 have ties to Mike Gableman’s campaign
– This Star Chamber meets in secret and speaks only through its chair.

In short, I’m not holding my breath waiting for them to denounce Loophole Louie for speaking about the very same cases at Marquette University that they denounced Gableman for not denouncing some of his supporters because they spoke about those cases.

On a related note, please take a look at the right sidebar, and support Judge Michael Gableman for Supreme Court.

December 17, 2007

Pure misuse of TIF district

by @ 18:20. Filed under Business, Politics - Wisconsin, Taxes.

Just because I’ve been focusing a lot on the Presidential race, that doesn’t mean I haven’t been keeping an eye on the local stuff. I only hope I have a Shorewood reader or two so this one can get sunk. According to JSOnline’s DayWatch, the Shorewood Village Board is expected to vote on an $800,000 TIF district to provide the seed money to allow Lakewood Financial Services to put a new facade on a 5-story office-and-apartment building they own on Oakland Ave. Unlike the dead plan to put a House of Blues and an arcade in the former Pabst Brewing complex, I won’t say that this won’t get repaid in short order; it will. However, there’s still a couple things quite fishy here.

First, I’ll take the village’s claim that this will turn a $3,500,000 building into $5,756,000 one, plus provide a boost to surrounding properties of $305,000. Unless I’m missing something important like the owner putting some of its own (or privately-borrowed) money in this, that’s a 383% net return on valuation from nothing more than a new facade. That is simply too good to be true.

Second, let’s run through the developer’s numbers. There are 44 apartments that go for $850/month, and 7,500 square feet of office and commercial space that go for $12/square foot/month. The developer is claiming they’ll be able to up that to $1,050/apartment/month (a $300/month increase per apartment) and $18/square foot of office and commercial space/month (a $6/month increase per square foot) solely from the effects of that facelift. That’s $58,200 per month coming in solely on the basis of the improvement, something I’m sure would cause reputable lenders would literally trip over themselves to offer $800,000 in conventional commercial loans on that promised revenue stream. Again, assuming that the facelift is $800,000 and the developer isn’t kicking in its own or privately-borrowed cash, one has to question why they’re running to Shorewood to be the banker.

Going back to the village’s claims, the increase in revenue (42.3%) doesn’t exactly jive with the expected reassessed value (64.5%). Now, I’m not in the real-estate business, so I do expect a bit of disconnect between increased rent and increased assessed value, but that’s not exactly adding up.

It’s been a while since I’ve been in the area, but the Shorewood portion of Oakland isn’t exactly blighted.

December 11, 2007

Thompson, Clinton on top in Wisconsin

(H/T – Mary Katharine Ham)

I have no idea how the December Badger Poll slipped through both the southeast Wisconsin media filter and my bloated blogroll for nearly 26 hours until MKH included it as a tossaway item in the piece linked to above, but it won’t be the exclusive province of the UW Survey Center and select outstate news sources any longer. I’ll cut straight to the take-home numbers on the poll taken between 11/27 and 12/5:

Republican Presidential Primary

(margin of error 7.4% – 174 respondents)

Fred Thompson – 30%
Rudy Giuliani – 25%
John McCain – 15%
Mike Huckabee – 8%
Mitt Romney – 5%
Don’t know – 5%
Ron Paul – 4%
Everybody else – under 1% each

Democratic Presidential Primary

(margin of error 6.0% – 260 respondents)

Hillary Clinton – 39%
Barack Obama – 26%
John Edwards – 16%
Don’t know – 6%
Bill Richardson – 4%
Dennis Kucinich – 3%
Joe Biden – 2%
Everybody else – under 1% each

Revisions/extensions (3:20 pm 12/11/2007) – It was briefly mentioned in this morning’s briefing at the Fred File. I apologize to Sean for missing it. Everybody else, you have no excuse.

WPRI – Wisconsin opposes illegal immigration

by @ 14:17. Filed under Immigration, Politics - Wisconsin.

The results of a poll conducted by the Wisconsin Policy Research Institute and Diversified Research early this month are probably coming as a shock to pro-North Mexico politicans on both sides of the aisle, both on a “total numbers” basis and a partisan basis.

Because I’m in a bit of a writer’s funk, and partly because there are only limited crosstabs available, I won’t go too far into the numbers, but there are a few that jump out (the questions, in italics, are the exact wording used in the poll):

Should the state of Wisconsin allow illegal immigrants to apply for Wisconsin driver’s licenses? – Statewide, 76% no, 19% yes. Only one subgroup showed a majority/plurality of support; those 18-24 years old (64%-36% in favor). Even among liberals, it was an even split (at 48%), while the Madison crowd barely opposed it (49%-48%). Of further note, Madison and the Eau Claire/La Crosse area (opposition led 65%-32%) are out of step with the rest of the state, a theme that repeated itself in the other two questions, while the city of Milwaukee (opposition led 80%-17%), which is most-affected by illegal immigration, showed a significant split with the conventional wisdom of liberals supporting illegal immigration.

Should the state of Wisconsin allow illegal immigrants to receive discounted in-state tuition at the
University of Wisconsin?
– Statewide, 86% no, 10% yes. No subgroup showed a majority/pluality of support, though again the splits mirror the results above.

Would you favor or oppose allowing illegal immigrant children to attend your local public schools? – Statewide, 46% yes, 46% no. The crosstabs don’t quite mirror either the above or the conventional wisdom that southeast Wisconsin has a monopoly on “conservatism”. While opposition led in the Green Bay area, 53%-32% (the biggest spread geographically), those in southeast Wisconsin (at least outside of Milwaukee and Waukesha Counties; those are broken out separately) supported this 50%-46%, while support in the Eau Claire/La Crosse area (72%-28%) actually outpaced that in Madison (61%-33%).

I guess it’s safe to say that, at least on the issue of illegal immigration, those of us in Talk Radio Land, and those in the Fox Valley, are more in touch with the state than the Dale Schultzes and the Mike Huebschs (or at least their constituents), and the Recess Supervisors of the world. Guess that’ll add some fuel to the fire of the battle for the Wisconsin Republican soul.

I do need to point out an extension that should be made to WPRI’s summary. The fact that there is so much opposition to giving a primary-school education to illegal immigrant children in the face of the lack of any real call to take it away is telling.

December 6, 2007

Reason #16,329 taxes are out of control in Wisconsin

I missed the budget meeting and the subsequent Common Council meeting here in Oak Creek where they passed a tax-and-spend-to-the-max 3.86% levy increase/4.1% expenditure increase budget the other week. However, thanks to Mark Verhalen, I do have one of the reasons why they did that rather than the original 3.03% levy increase and 3.0% expenditure increase; they wanted to grab $250,000 in additional state shared revenue for the 2009 budget under a program supposedly for communities that practice fiscal restraint available only to those local governments that did tax and spend to the max.

Yes, you heard that right – the state is passing out state tax money to communities that screw the taxpayers the maximum amount allowed so that they can continue to spend out of control when the one-year semi-freeze limit hits.

Words, at least those not involving BS-bombs, H-bombs and F-bombs, fail me.

Maybe it was the minimum markup law

by @ 13:43. Filed under Business, Politics - Wisconsin.

Crude oil futures are (still) at historic highs, and the last time gasoline futures (specifically, New York’s version of reformulated unleaded) were trading at this level, gas was tickling $3.30/gallon in southeast Wisconsin. I picked up gasoline the other day at $2.88/gallon, and MilwaukeeGasPrices.com has gas as low as $2.73/gallon (note; they drop the 0.9¢, I round up because we pay the extra penny on 9 out of every 10 gallons).

Hmm, what could be the difference between then and now? Anyone? Bueller? Bueller? Before you say, “Ethanol,” it’s trading at some of the highest levels of 2007 (December 2007 ethanol at CBOT is over $1.95/gallon). True, it’s significantly lower than the 2006 highs, but those $3.30/gallon gas prices were earlier this year.

Also, before you say, “RBOB”, I’ll note that while NYC RBOB isn’t the same as Milwaukee/Chicago RBOB, they’re close enough, and that NYMEX switched to quoting NYC RBOB some time ago. As a further side note, while those cheaper gas prices haven’t hit much of the state, Janesville, Beloit, and points west of there also have cheap gas, and the last time I checked, there was no RBOB or ethanol requirement there.

Rather, it can fairly be attributed with the elimination via judicial fiat of the minimum markup law with respect to gasoline. Care to revise and extend those remarks that said that eliminating the minimum markup law wouldn’t make any difference, governor? I’m sure the rest of the state would like to enjoy those benefits.

Related to that, a couple of my favorite Assembly members, Leah Vukmir and Bill Kramer, introduced a bill called the Competitive Marketplace Act the other week. It will in one bold stroke wipe out that onerous markup mandated on not only gasoline but tobacco and alcohol, and also wipe out the very real competitive disadvantage Wisconsin retailers have compared to those just across the borders.

November 29, 2007

Freedom From Religion Foundation – Christmas is verboten

(H/T – Bryan/HotAir Headlines, though since I’m only half-listening to Charlie today, I may have missed his take)

A year after the city of Milwaukee finally acquiesced and restarted calling the joint city/county Christmas Tree a Christmas Tree, Marlin Schneider (D-Wisconsin Rapids) introduced a joint resolution to call the tree in the Capitol routunda the “Wisconsin State Christmas Tree”. That tree had been known as just that between 1916 until 1985, when the early hatchlings of political correctness renamed it a “holiday tree” (my memory’s hazy, as I was in high school then, but if it serves, ‘Rats ran all the branches of state government that year). In the interim, the Capitol has become a December playground as every religion, including the Madison-based Freedom From Religion Foundation, has displays there. The joint resolution is expected to fly through the Republican-controlled Assembly, but since the Democrats control the Senate, I doubt it will go anywhere. The takehome lines from the public hearing on the resolution yesterday direct from the linked AP article:

Snarlin’ Marlin Schneider (if you want an explanation for the “Snarlin'” tag, I’ll give it in the comments as it’s not exactly germaine in the post) – “I am here today to voice the ire and frustration of the majority of people of the state of Wisconsin who want their Christmas tree back in the state Capitol, not a politically correct holiday tree.”

Annie Laurie Gaylor from FFRF – “The state of Wisconsin cannot have a Christmas anything.”

Rep. Joel Kleefisch (R-Oconomowoc) – “(Holiday) means holy day, representative of Christmas, the holiest day in the Christian calendar.” (note to Joel, Christmas is #2 on the holy list behind Easter)

Schneider – “If it looks like a Christmas tree, and it smells like a Christmas tree and it’s decorated like a Christmas tree and it has presents under it like a Christmas tree, it’s a Christmas tree!” (emphasis in the original)

November 20, 2007

The ever-growing gubmint monster – counties edition

by @ 20:37. Filed under Politics - Wisconsin, Taxes.

(H/T – Owen)

The Wisconsin Taxpayers Alliance looked at county government taxation and spending between 2000 and 2005. The very quick Cliff’s Notes summary:

– Wisconsin’s 72 counties spent a total of $6.70 billion between operations ($4.42 billion), debt service ($250 million) and golf courses/hospitals/civic centers/nursing homes ($2.03 billion) in 2005. If memory serves, Milwaukee County was responsible for just under $1.2 billion of that.

– The operations portion represented a 4.3% annual increase from 2000, and a 3.3% per capita annual increase (funny; I don’t recall getting a 3.3% annual increase in pay).

– Over that time frame, state aid went up 2.04% an an annual basis, while county taxes went up 5.73% on an annual basis and revenues from fees, fines and permits went up 9.58% on an annual basis.

– Overall, health and human services spending took up 46.1% of county expenditures, easily outpacing public safety (19.9%), general government (13.9%) and highways (9.5%).

– Exactly one of the 72 counties reduced taxes on a per-capita basis; La Fayette (0.28% decrease annual rate). The lowest per-capita increase was in Dane, which raised taxes 2.1% per year).

– Five counties had per-capita public charges (i.e. fees) more than double in those 6 years; Jefferson (152.6%), Milwaukee (146.6% – ‘thank’ you very much, Thug Holloway), Dodge (137.0%), Washburn (119.2%) and Door (101.3%).

November 15, 2007

Grover Norquist at the Center Right

Yesterday, an overflow crowd filled the Madison Club to listen to Grover Norquist. I was lucky enough to be one of the crowd because Norquist is a very colorful and quotable person. Let me go through the notes to give you a taste of what you missed:

– Between the end of the Civil War and the rise of Ronald Reagan, ones’ political party told more of where one lived rather than what one stood for.
– The national Center Right Coalition, which Norquist founded, grew out of a sense of those that wanted government to leave them alone. Also, there is no “20-point agreement” between the various members of the group.
– On the left’s, specifically, Hillary Clinton’s portion of the left, list of demands on others – “It is slightly longer and more tedious than Leviticus.”
– The Republican name has become the Coca-Cola no-tax-increase brand nationally, and it’s continuing to trickle down to the states.
– Quote related to that – “Republican politicians who vote for tax increases are the rat’s head in the Coke bottle.”
– None of the Presidential candidates have really jumped on the transparency of expenditures movement yet. Norquist feels the first one that does will get a rather significant leg-up.

There was a LOT more than either what I have above or what I managed to scribble down on two pages of paper, but I do have to try to balance the desire to talk with the standard “what’s said here stays here”. I honestly could do an epic on it, at least if I were a better writer.

Due to the Thanksgiving holiday, there won’t be a late-November Center Right meeting. However, you will want to circle December 12 on your calendars; Rick Esenberg (yes, the Shark and Shepherd Rick) will be in to discuss the Supreme Court race. If you think you can make it, let Mark Block know now – markb – at – afphq – dot – org (I don’t think I have to remind you of what to do with that to make it e-mailable).

November 14, 2007

But, but, but I thought Craps got rid of all the planes

by @ 6:44. Filed under Politics - Wisconsin.

The Asian Badger has a nice little exclusive on not one, not two, but three state-owned Pilatus PC-12 executive turboprop aircraft (roughly $5 million apiece new) took a trip down to Muncie, Indiana yesterday. Two of them are still there this morning, at least according to Flight Aware, while the third came back to Madison yesterday afternoon.

I wonder what’s so important down there that 18-27 (depending on how they’re configured, the PC-12 seats 6 to 9) Doyle cronies needed to borrow the Wisconsin Air Force.

Revisions/extensions (2:25 pm 11/14/2007) – Apparently, that was the Wisconsin Skate Univ…er, UWM’s mens’ basketball team that went down there (H/T – John Foust). Time to open up another can of questions:

– Why did they need to fly an hour on a trip that takes 5 by bus?
– Considering that the PC-12 costs just over $500/hour to operate, will the state be reimbursed the full $3,000+ that it cost us?
– If the state is reimbursed, which of UWM’s funds will that be coming out of? If it’s any fund other than the mens’ basketball fund, I will not be a happy camper.

November 8, 2007

Jensen to get a new trial

by @ 15:12. Filed under Law and order, Politics - Wisconsin.

Just because I’m in Vegas (I’ll just say that the Unreal one would be in 7th heaven) and I left the headphones at the hotel doesn’t mean I can’t follow along with at least some of the news. I’ll even try to follow the first lessons in not taking gratuitous cheap shots at people like Dane County pers…er, DA Brian Blanchard.

Unless Dane County DA Brian Blanchard manages to convince AG J.B. Van Hollen to appeal the decision of the District 4 Court of Appeals to the state Supreme Court, former Assembly Speaker Scott Jensen (R) will get a new trial. Hopefully, it won’t be before a kangaroo court this time. The court found that not only were the instructions given to the jury by Dane County Circuit Judge Steven Ebert to convict were improper, but that his prohibition of Jensen’s defense team to introduce evidence that the former Assembly Democratic Caucus was doing the exact same thing without reason was improper.

Well, have to go. Next conference starts in about 15 minutes, and I have to finish my final votes. Remember, vote that slate on the right sidebar one last time before 4 pm Central.

November 7, 2007

Sheboygan city attorney backs down

by @ 10:18. Filed under Politics - Wisconsin, The Blog.

News, and probably updates as they come in, at Sheboygan Shenanigans. I will wait until further details come in before shifting the various City of Sheboygan sites off the “Harrassers in government” portion of the blogroll, but they will remain on the “Personal links” portion.

November 2, 2007

Roll bloat – the oppressor and the oppressed version

The Sheboygan city attorney, Stephen G. McLean, ignoring not only case law but Article I, Section 3 of the Wisconsin Constitution (which reads, for the dense, “Every person may freely speak, write and publish his sentiments on all subjects, being responsible for the abuse of that right, and no laws shall be passed to restrain or abridge the liberty of speech or of the press.”), ordered the proprietor of Sheboygan Shenanigans to pull links to the Sheboygan Police Department. After she complied, she became the subject part of a police investigation into the officer that maintains the Sheboygan Police site that was ordered by Sheboygan police chief David E. Kirk and Sheboygan mayor Juan Perez. Perez is still pissed that the private citizen led a recall effort against him, and is continuing to bully her.

Paging Mr. Van Hollen. Paging Mr. Biskupic. Something’s rotten in Sheboygan City Hall.

One more thing; Sheboygan Shenanigans is now on the blogroll, and the Sheboygan pols are part of a new section of that roll. Those pols will find I’m not a pushover.

Revisions/extensions (11:17 am 11/2/2007) – Jeni corrected who the police was conducting the mayoral witch-hunt against.

October 31, 2007

Time Warner/Charter vs Big Ten Network/NFL Network

by @ 20:27. Filed under Business, Politics - Wisconsin, Sports.

I’m as pissed as anybody else that Time Warner (and Charter) and the BTN/NFLN can’t pull their collective heads out of their asses. Both sides want something that is not part of the deal between the networks and the satellite companies; the networks want on basic cable (that’s channels 2-99 that just about any TV made in the last dozen years can get) for ESPN money, while the cable companies want not only to put it on digital cable, but to bundle it with the likes of Fox Soccer Channel and the Outdoor Channel at an additional cost. By way of comparison, you have to get the 100-channel package from either DirecTV or Dish (or AT&T U-verse IF you can get it) to get either network. Funny thing is, that’s precisely what the “standard” digital package is on cable. However, both sides are too greedy to take the compromise.

What’s worse is the bi-partisan Party-In-Government in Madistan, full of self-righteous anger over not being able to watch the Wisconsin-OverratedSU football game live on Saturday. They want to step in and create a binding arbitration system to force the cable companies to take channels they don’t want at a price they aren’t willing to pay. What would be better is to simply get rid of the franchising monopoly altogether so more upstarts like AT&T can waltz in with better deals without giving tribute to either the locals as is the case now or the state as is the proposed case.

October 26, 2007

Let the local spending smash the ceiling, and other veto errata

by @ 12:49. Filed under Politics - Wisconsin, Taxes.

Let’s take a quick run through Gov. Doyle’s veto message (H/T – WisPolitics Budget Blog, which, though it lacks the words that were “Vannah White”ed, has a red-colored summary of each veto’s effects, shall we? For reference’s sake, here’s the Munich Acco…er, Grand Compromise. Late word from WisPolitics is Mike Huebsch won’t even try to override any of this. (“thanks” a lot, Neville) On your marks, get set,….

  • The Wisconsin Covenant – This is one of those times I wish we had the specific words that were whacked. While Doyle merely says he doesn’t want to set the financial eligibility requirements at this time (which the Grand Compromise set at Pell Grant/reduced-price school lunch), I find it extraordinarily odd that he mentioned “Wisconsin residents”, especially since he considers illegal aliens that have successfully invaded Wisconsin “Wisconsin residents”.

    Also, let the spending commence; we’re now on the hook for operating the “private” office that will run it.

  • Independent Purchase of Telecommunications Services – Message from Doyle to the UW system and the Legislature – How dare you let the UW system spend money they would spend anyway without going through me, Lord Craps. After all, I have a public union to keep happy, I don’t want them to turn on me like they have those that ultimately pay their salaries and benefits.
  • Information on Instructors – Nope, can’t let the students know who is going to run the class until they actually show up.</channel_Craps>
  • Levy Limits on Technical College Districts – A very modest 4% annual limit on the increase of taxpayer cash to overspenders like MATC just can’t be allowed to fly; after all, their teachers have to continue to earn more than UW professors.</channel_Craps>
  • Stewardship Review – Demandment XIII – I am Lord Craps. No one shall question how much land I remove from the property tax rolls in the name of envirowhackoism, or how much taxpayer money I use to do so.
  • Muskellunge Fishing Season and Catch and Release Bass Fishing – This is another time I wish I knew which words were axed. While the red-colored glasses review says he’s partially vetoing the provisions to not ensare those wishing to use barbed hooks or live bait to fish for other species during catch-and-release bass and musky seasons, I don’t see what words could be whacked to that end without whacking the entire relevant provisions.
  • Quarterly and Annual Reports from the State Fair Park Board – Demandment XIV – I am Lord Craps. No one shall question how much money is spent by the State Fair Park Board.
  • Technical Modification to Kenosha County Circuit Court Branch 8 – My mention of this one is my olive branch to Doyle. As the affected position was written, the election to the new-for-2009 branch would have happened in the spring of 2008. This was the fastest way to fix that.
  • Demonstration Waiver for Health Opportunity Accounts Under BadgerCare – Demandment XV – I am Lord Craps. No one shall question how much money is spent on BadgerCare Plus.
  • Reducing Fetal and Infant Mortality and Morbidity – When it comes to sunsets, Doyle believes in the British Empire concept of none.
  • Municipality property tax limit – Hang onto your wallets, folks. While Doyle and company believe the munciipalities cannot be expected to find pork to defund this late in the budget process for this year, I fully expect them to find additional pork to fund this year just so the base for next year’s one-year 2%-or-growth “freeze” will be that much higher.
  • Reports and Approvals in the transportation budget – Demandment XVI – I am Lord Craps. No one shall question how much money I spend from the transportation fund, or whether I give it all to WEAC.
  • Department of Transportation Permits for Activities Along State Trunk
    Highways Within Municipal Limits
    – Those highways are mine, MINE!</channel_Craps_Daffy_edition>
  • Vehicle Immobilization and Impoundment for Repeated Parking Violations – Huzzah part deux. No Denver Boots for the foreseeable future.
  • Kenosha-Racine-Milwaukee Commuter Rail Extension Project – Night of the Living Dead lives! DAMMIT!

October 24, 2007

So much for the political advantage

by @ 21:15. Filed under Politics - Wisconsin.

In case you missed it below, or elsewhere around the Cheddarsphere, the spin is that this is a political win for the Pubbies. I hate to rain on that parade, but there’s a slight problem with that; namely, a no-new-taxes pledge from Americans for Tax Reform 24 Assemblymen signed. Here are the RepubicRATs who flat-out lied to their constituents when they signed that pledge:

– Donald Friske
– Eugene Hahn
– Jake Hines
– Terry Musser
– Scott Suder – Forgot originally
– Jeff Wood

For those counting along at home, or inside the Square, that’s more than the Pubbie margin in the Assembly. Further, it wasn’t necessary for any of those five six to break their word publicly; Mike Huebsch still had a 5 6 5-vote margin to work with.

Message to the wise; it’s not 1988 anymore. It’s a lot harder to bury duplicity; just ask former Senate Democratic Leader Tom Daschle or former State Senate Republican Leader Mary Panzer.

Oh, and the recall window is now open.

Revisions/extensions (10:48 pm 10/24/2007) – Made a correction to the vote margin; Huebsch had even more room. Also added a reference the state Pubbies should have had burned into their collective memories.

R&E part 2 (12:06 am 10/25/2007) – I shouldn’t try this while watching the World Series and participating in a couple of open threads; I forgot Scott Suder. That also brings the vote margin back to where it was. Thanks, Jenny.

The budget – inside the Square view

by @ 20:19. Filed under Politics - Wisconsin.

I had the pleasure to talk with a couple of Republican Senate staffers today (don’t bother asking which ones; it was more of a “background” talk), and they’re actually pretty stoked about the budget. You know my views, but in the interest of fairness, and to explain both Fraley’s and Kevin’s optimism, I’ll go through the highlights:

– They’re pleased they got the most-odious of the taxes out, namely the combined reporting, the hospital tax, and the gas tax. Considering the original new-tax-increase estimates were $1.74 billion (at least officially), that’s an accomplishment.

– Healthy and Depopulated Wisconsin and KRM, a pair of Senate ‘Rat priorities, got shot down. While most of us, me included, figured and probably still figure H&DW was nothing more than a negotiating ploy, the reaction of the Senate ‘Rats is, in a word, priceless.

– Oh, and how about that reaction? It wasn’t yet official when we talked, but Robson’s gone. It’s odd when there’s a mid-term purge, especially when the side undergoing said purge can say it got most of what it wanted.

– Speaking of the Senate, all of the Senate Pubbies stuck together in voting against the budget. To be honest, nobody saw that coming.

– They see some political possibilities for 2008 and 2010, based mainly on the version that first went through the Assembly. After a review of the vote that I only got to after the conversation, I’m not nearly as optimistic.

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