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

February 12, 2006

Why I don’t do ads or contributions

by @ 8:08. Filed under Politics - Wisconsin, The Blog.

(H/T  – Kevin)

The Spice Boys found out (item #2)  that Peg Lautenschlager’s campaign committee  gave a  $2,000 to FightingBob.com in August as part of a deal to give $4,600 in campaign funds  to non-profit organizations because the campaign received too much money from PACs in 2002.

I have a few questions:

  • Why was the deal to donate to non-profit organizations rather than return the overage to the donors?
  • How does FightingBob.com qualify as a tax-exempt non-profit organization when most of their content is political in nature?
  • Doesn’t this entire episode expose the folly of campaign finance reform?

For the record, No Runny Eggs does not run advertising (though PollHost.com, my polling host, does run  advertising on the “results” pages; once I get a better handle on my new host, I’ll more than likely host my own polls as well thanks to Patrick, I’m hosting my own polls)  or have a donation link  to avoid even  the appearances of impropriety.   When I praise or blast someone, I want you to know that it’s me speaking, not an advertiser or donor.

February 9, 2006

Wisconsin Taxpayer Protection Amendment

by @ 22:49. Filed under Politics - Wisconsin, WTPA.

I really can’t say it much better than Brian and Owen.   As far as I can see, there’s a lot of good and only two major problems with WTPA:

  1. The “second consecutive Legislature” requirement for a Constitutional amendment (first spotted by Owen)  would be circumvented for anything relating to WTPA.   There is a reason why the writers of the Wisconsin Constitution put it in there; so that no fad that doesn’t have the lasting power of a couple of years gets into the Constitution.
  2. The lack of a per-pupil foundation in the school-district portion of the amendment.   As an anonymous commenter at Fraley’s Dailytakes pointed out, “Less kids should mean fewer expenses.”   It only makes sense that if we let a unit of government grow with growth in the community and force that unit of government to shrink if property becomes abandoned and worth less, and we let a school district grow with the addition of students, we should make a school district shrink if it loses students.

Owen  points out that the battle is more likely going to be to keep the good rather than fix the bad.   It’s also pretty damn good; so count me in on the WTPA bandwagon.

Time to narrow the focus of Wisconsin’s Own Travelgate

by @ 12:59. Filed under Law and order, Politics - Wisconsin.

(H/T – Jenna, and cross-posted by her at the BBA)

Three months after  Georgia Thompson  fixed the infamous travel contract in the favor of Jim “Craps”  Doyle (WEAC/Potawatomi-For Sale)  contributor Adelman Travel, then-Department of Administration secretary Marc Marotta, who now serves as Craps’ campaign chair, awarded  her a $1,000/year  base-building Discretionary Compensation Adjustment (DCA).   The DCA is awarded at the secretary’s “sole discretion”.

This information, which was apparently not part of the indictment against Thompson, is now in the hands of the US Attorney’s office.   Considering that Marotta reported directly to Doyle, and Marotta currently has a prominent position in Doyle’s re-election campaign, today cannot be described as a good one for Team Craps.

Lee Holloway to Milwaukee County Board – “You f* with me, I f* you up.”

by @ 12:15. Filed under Politics - Wisconsin, Thug Holloway.

(H/T – Brian Fraley)

Embattled, ethically-“challenged” (more like “lacking”)  Milwaukee County Board Chair Lee Holloway isn’t taking the request of a new vote for county board chair lying down.   He’s demanding that those of the 10-member “putsch” that filed paperwork to re-elect a board chair on Monday, February 20,  that he hasn’t already removed from power to take a blood oath supporting him, resign any chairmanship/vice chairmanship on any committee they may be on, or face firing on Monday, February 13.   The text of the form letter sent to Supervisors Cesarz (Personnel vice-chair), DeBruin (Parks, Energy, and Environment chair), Devine (Parks, Energy, and Environment vice-chair), McCue (Finance and Audit vice-chair), Rice (Judiciary, Safety and General Services vice-chair), and Schmitt (Personnel chair):

You recently signed a petition to the County Clerk to hold a special meeting of the County Board to elect a Chairman. In addition, I appointed you to serve as (insert position: e.g. Chairman of Parks)

Because of this situation, as well as the need for continued cooperation and communication between the County Board Chairman and the Chairs and Vice Chairs of standing committees, I am requesting that you inform me as to whether you can continue to work with me in your leadership capacity under the current circumstances at the County Board.

As you know, I believe I am exercising my constitutional rights of due process in defending myself against what I believe to be unfounded and unfair ethics charge.

You have even expressed your opinion that I have the right to do this.

I am now asking you to inform me whether you feel you can continue to work with me given this situation.

If you believe you cannot continue to work with me, I would request that you resign from your current position as (insert position) until due process has been completed.

I would like you to give this your careful thought and give me an answer by Monday, February 13.

Thank you for your response.

This thug cannot be removed from office fast enough.

Wisconsin Taxpayer Protection Amendment released

by @ 11:30. Filed under Politics - Wisconsin.

Owen has the text.   I’ll be back in a while after I digest this.

February 6, 2006

Doyle’s son nailed for DUI Sunday

by @ 19:17. Filed under Law and order, Politics - Wisconsin.

Madison TV stations WISC and WKOW, tired of waiting for the likes of The Capital Times, Wisconsin State Journal, the Madison.com-affiliated WMTV-TV/DT, and Milwaukee Journal Sentinel to end their embargoes of any bad news for Jim “Craps” Doyle (WEAC/Potawatomi-For Sale), finally reported this evening  that Gus Doyle, eldest son of Jim, was pulled over early Sunday morning on suspicion of driving under the influence.   Gus, who was driving a car not registered to him without a valid driver’s license, also pulled a Goldschlager, refusing to submit to a blood alcohol test.

Allow me to make myself clear; at age 30,  Gus is his own man.   Unlike Supreme Solar Allah, his criminality wasn’t designed to help out his parent.   At least at this point, the elder Doyle almost certainly had no knowledge that Gus would pull this.   Therefore, you can’t hold the sins of the son against the father. WKOW is now reporting that Gus had his license suspended July 2005, and the car was registered to Wisconsin First Lady Jessica Doyle.   Therefore, it is now reasonable to assume that Craps knew that and indeed sanctioned the fact that Gus was continuing to drive without a license.   I still won’t hold the DUI portion of the story against Craps though.

However, you don’t suppose that if the adult child of a prominent state Pubbie had done what Gus had, that the state’s presstitutes wouldn’t be tripping over themselves to not only break the bad news, but do everything in their power to link the parent to this.

You just knew there had to be a federal hook here

by @ 18:19. Filed under Politics - National, Politics - Wisconsin.

(H/T  – Wendy – sorry about that, my feed reader doesn’t pick up authors at B&S)

Or, in this case, cash, and lots of it.   From Jim “Craps” Doyle’s (WEAC/Potawatomi-For Sale) press release on signing the uber-“safety”-seat bill –

—

By signing AB 618, Wisconsin is eligible for $625,000 in new federal funds this federal fiscal year, andcould receive up to $2.5 million over the next six years. These federal funds will be used for child safety seat education and training programs as well as programs that purchase and distribute child safety seats to low income families.

It sure is nice to know that the feds have so much money that they’re mandating this  .   At least they’re not withholding highway funds like they do for every other damn stupid mandate.

Wendy  noticed one more thing; Craps trotted out the tired old lieberal line about X being NUMBER ONE KILLER.   Like him, I sure didn’t notice that kids 4-7 were dropping dead either from the simple fact that they weren’t in booster seats or weren’t in booster seats during car crashes.

Homer nods – it was Owen’s better half, Wendy, that created the post.

Confirmed Senate “No” votes on AB15 – 2/16/2006 PM update

by @ 17:54. Filed under Corn-a-hole, Politics - Wisconsin.

(Continuing the list from the December version)

So far, we have exactly one 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9  of the 17 votes we need to kill this awful excuse of a bill, plus a “promise” of an abstention from Luther Olsen  –

-Ted Kanavas (H/T –David – in the comments part of the link back to Badger Blogger)

– Neal Kedzie (H/T – James Wigderson)

– Mary Lazich (from both the comments in the December version of this by an anonymous source and James)

– Cathy Stepp, a former co-sponsor (thanks, Peter, also back in the December version) – see, we can turn Senators back from the Dark Side.

– Tom Reynolds (H/T – LB2 – in the comments part in the link back to Badger Blogger)

– Joe Leibham (H/T – Kevin)

– Glenn Grothman (H/T – TomInWestBend – in the comments on the post from the Wigderson Library & Pub)

– Jeff Plale, my state Senator and the first Democrat to swear off the ethanol (see below)

– Dave Hansen (H/T – James)

– Also, Luther Olsen, whose family stands to become rich beyond the dreams of Avaris, abstained in the committee vote (of course, it passed there 4-2, so he wasn’t needed; I doubt he’ll stay silent if Sgt. Schultz needs him to be vote #18).

We’ve  finally crossed the halfway threshhold, but the ADM lobby  did first  (they’re up to 10 of the 18 they need, 11  if you include Olsen). If you haven’t worked over your state Senator, do so. If you have and they haven’t gotten the message, lather, rinse and repeat. If they have sworn off the ethanol, take the time to thank them.

Homer nod (10:26 pm 1/18/2006) – corrected the math
Homer nod part 2 (1:08 pm 1/19/2006) – durn typos
Revisions/extensions (8:15 am 2/6/2006) – With the move to WP, I can now constantly update across months  without worrying about losing the URL.
More revisions/extensions (5:54 pm 2/6/2006) – We’re safe until 2/21 according to James, but he found another lush.

Keep up the skeer

by @ 8:06. Filed under Corn-a-hole, Politics - Wisconsin.

Charlie reports that three  Assemblymen who drank the ethanol Kool-Aid when they first acted upon the bad-gas bill have now flipped and will oppose it when the Sierra Club-endorsed revision to explicitly  stick it to business comes back to them:   Mark Gottlieb, Samantha Kerkman and Robin Vos.   Let’s try to make it so that AB15 doesn’t even make it back to them; call your Senator today and get  him or her  to oppose AB15.

February 5, 2006

From RDW – Stepp case went to the Jefferson County DA almost 2 months ago

by @ 21:54. Filed under Law and order, Politics - Wisconsin.

Fred has the details.   I wonder what the conflict of interest is.   Smart money (the one that just won on the under in Super Bowl XL) says that the conflict of interest is with Voces de la Frontera (the invaders).

Sunday pre-brunch smashes

by @ 8:18. Filed under History, MMSD - The Crap People, Politics - Wisconsin, Religion, Sports.

– From Fox News, adherents of  Islam, the Religion of “Peace”, stormed and torched the Danish Embassy in Syria as part of ongoing protests over a cartoon.   Grow up, Muslims; the presstitutes have been doing that sort of schtick to us Christians for decades.

 – The Journal Sentinel crows about how Wisconsin is the King of the Throne – yes, that throne (so if you have just eaten or are about to eat, please skip to the next segment).   It seems that between Kohler-#1 in toilets, Bemis Manufacturing-#1 in toilet seats, the thickest concentraion of toilet paper manufacturers around in the Fox Valley, and SC Johnson’s Glade-#1 air freshener, we’re the king of all that is crappy.   So next time you see #2 floating in Lake Michigan, take pride that not only did a Wisconsinite (probably) squeeze that particular piece out, and not only that MMSD-The Crappy Water People decided to once again showcase Wisconsin’s competence by displaying their incompetence, but that Wisconsinites had a hand in almost every other step of that process as well.   Don’t say I didn’t warn you

– In the “blind squirrel finds nut” category, Eugene Kane gets something right.   History is history, so it’s time to stop patronizing blacks by setting aside the shortest month of the year as “Black” History Month.   Teach those milestones on the anniversaries of the dates they happened (and find a suitable time for those that happened during the summer).

– The Minister of Defense, Reggie White, is headed to the Football Hall of Fame.   Despite his passing away last year, fellow inductees Troy Aikman and Warren Moon will be looking over their shoulders hearing the footsteps and their blockers flying through the air, and I’ll be hearing Reggie’s gravel voice.

– Fred gives “Badcast” a unique definition.   No, it’s not a putrid podcast (though if I tried it, it sure would be); it’s a Badger-centric one.   Tips of the hat to Aaron and Jenna, and Sean for having the courage to do this.

January 31, 2006

Stepford ‘Rats strike yet again

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

This time, Terry Van Akkeren (‘Rat-Sheboygan) and John Steinbrink (‘Rat-Kenosha) drank the Craps Kool Aid to uphold Jim “Craps” Doyle’s (WEAC/ADM-For Sale) veto of concealed carry. Never mind that these two Assemblymen voted twice for the very bill that Craps vetoed. Never mind that the state Supreme Court has all-but-ordered the Legislature to come up with a systematic way to implement concealed carry or face an outright voiding of the current concealed-carry ban in a future case (of course, this was before Patrick Crooks became a lieberal). Never mind that, come November when they lose their re-election bids because of their betrayal, Craps likely won’t be in a position to offer them state jobs. Never mind that, in a moment of clarity, Snarlin’ Marlin Schneider voted to override the veto.

January 30, 2006

Doyle to Adelman Travel – too bad you got caught, but thanks for the dough

by @ 15:08. Filed under Politics - Wisconsin.

That’s the sum of the Journal Sentinel story that details the cancellation of the Adelman contract. Of course, if you only read the first six paragraphs, you would think that Jim “Craps” Doyle (WEAC-Potawatomi/For Sale) was a pious person. However, let’s start with paragraph #7 –

But (Jim) Doyle’s campaign will not refund $10,000 campaign gifts each from Adelman Travel founder Craig Adelman and Adelman Travel board member Mitch Fromstein – the maximum gifts allowed by law to candidates for governor. Until giving Doyle’s campaign $10,000, Adelman had never given more than $1,000 to a candidate for governor.  

(Dan) Leistikow (communications director for the governor) said the donations were legal, publicly disclosed as required by state law. He said that indictment of Thompson, a $77,341-a-year civil servant, did not question or suggest anything improper with the donations by Adelman and Fromstein to the governor’s campaign.

"I looked at the charges from the U.S. attorney very closely, and there was nothing to suggest Craig Adelman or Mitchell Fromstein did anything wrong," Doyle said.

Well, then, why did Craps feel compelled to yank the contract? Why did Adelman suddenly feel compelled to increase his contribution level an order of magnitude? Can we get the “unconstitutional-games-forever-for-a-song” Indian compacts voided if we can get a prosecutor to link all the casino money to them?

Revisions/extensions (6:25 am 1/31) – either somebody at the MJS is reading this (yeah, right), or they had a slight change of heart in being Craps’ shill. The “will not refund” paragraph is now the second.

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