Seeing is Believing.

You ever think you'd see the day where a major political party's chairman would write and personally sign a letter to a Presidential candidate urging him to boycott a state's primary?

Neither did I.

But DNC Chairman Howard Dean's doing just that.

Milwaukee County Exec. Scott Walker gets a challenger

Democrats have been trying to convince someone to run against County Executive Scott Walker, and it looks like they finally have one. Joe Klein has filed for and declared his candidacy today.

By checking his Bio page, we can see that he is yet another East Side tree hugging liberal (oh, they prefer to be called "progressive" now) that wants to make Milwaukee taxpayers pay for a light rail choo-choo that no one will ride... except maybe himself, since he claims to have taken the city bus downtown to register as a candidate. (Psst... Joe, spell check).

'Tap Three Times'

Cross-posted at THEB.

From Allahpundit:



Not quite at Paul Shanklin level, but close.

Miller Goes Blaze Orange

Looks like Miller is going after the hunters' market for its Miller High Life brand.

A new marketing campaign consists of blaze orange cans. That's right. Blaze orange.

And while beer drinkers don't need a lot of instructions, the High Life packages, dressed up with pictures of a turkey, a pheasant and an eight-point buck, add some anyway:

"ENJOY AFTER THE HUNT."

'This [Farm Bill] is the Very Best We Could Do in Committee'

- Rep. Steve Kagen, M.D. (D-Appleton) July 21, 2007 in the Appleton Post-Crescent

According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, this is the look of "the very best."

The red dots are people deemed "farmers" who collect subsidy checks greater than $250,000 a year. The big red dots are those getting checks in essence of $2 million.

These are the new numbers under "the very best" the House Ag Committee could do. (HT: The Corner)

The farm bill passed by House Democrats in July would continue giving millionaires farm subsidies (setting the income threshold for payments at $1 million a year, and keeping loopholes in place that allow some making much more to qualify). The Bush administration has proposed sharply reducing the income threshold to $200,000 a year and ending many of those loopholes. That would reduce the number of subsidy recipients by less than 40,000 (of the current million or so recipients).

For the best analysis on the 2007 Ag Bill, please read the Heritage Foundation's Brian Riedl, a Wisconsin-Madison graduate.

The 2007 Ag Bill is a joke. Editorials across the nation from the Washington Post to the Wisconsin State Journal have called it as such.

Some have called it what it truly is: More of the same.

Re Science.

First thing I thought of when I read Kevin's post



She blinded me with Science lol

WSB Chris

Who are We to Disagree with Science?

Who said math isn't fun?

Jessica Alba, the film actress, has the ultimate sexy strut, according to a team of Cambridge mathematicians.

The academics found that it is the ratio between hips and waist that puts the sway into a woman's walk - and the nearer that ratio is to 0.7, the better.

This ratio provides the body with the right torso strength to produce a more angular swing and bounce to the hips during the walking motion.

Therefore, a woman with a 25in waist and 36in hips would have just the right proportions to carry off a sexy swagger as she walks.

The Jessica Alba sashay beat off competition from Kate Moss, Angelina Jolie and even Marilyn Monroe, whose walk along a railway platform in Some Like It Hot is one of the most famous in film history.

While Monroe was a fraction off the target ratio with 0.69, the Cambridge team said that Alba had the perfect proportions.

That dripping sound you hear in the background is our boy Christian Schneider drooling.

Two For One

WTMJ has a report on their website of an unusual OWI arrest:

ABBOTSFORD, Wis. (AP) -- Two Dorchester men driving one truck at the same time were arrested for drunken driving in the Abbotsford area about 170 miles northwest of Madison.

Harvey J. Miller, 43, who has no legs, steered the 1985 Chevrolet truck while Edwin H. Marzinske, 55, operated the brake and gas pedals, according to a report from the Colby/Abbotsford police.

Source: 620 AM WTMJ – Cops Stop Team Drunk Driving Effort The story is reporting both are multiple OWI offenders and the legless man is claiming he was not operating the vehicle because he was not working the accelerator. I bet this one has a good chance of making it up on Yahoo's weird news item list.

Someone needs to explain the First Amendment to this woman

You would think the spouse of a lawyer would know you have a right to put signs like this on your own property.

The MJS has a story about a woman who is putting an assisted living home for senior in a residential sub division and the people who live there do not like it or want it.

Some went as far as to put yard signs on their property saying as much. Now the woman acquelynn Chiarelli is threatening to sue the people to force them to remove there signs and I quote "saying they are depriving her of her right to enjoy her property." What a big cry baby.

I am guessing her husband who is a lawyer is not constitutional law type. I believe those yard signs fall under a persons protected first amendment right to free speech and expression. She does not have to like them but damn it they have a right to put them up.

I remember in Oconomowoc during the Hospital Wars there were signs every where saying things to the effect of "not another hospital" Aurora never sued to have the signs taken down. I guess someone on Aurora's legal team had read the bill of rights

People like this drive me nuts they think their rights matter but no one else do. She is lucky I do not live in that sub division. She goes out of here way to sneak her business into this neighborhood and when the people who were there first get upset she pretends she is the victim.

I hope the people living there put up more signs and really hurt her feelings ;)

WSB Chris

Oh, I'm Sure This is Just One Big Misunderstanding

Yeah, there's going to be a press release out on this today.

State Sen. Scott Fitzgerald, R-Juneau, is calling on the Democratic Party of Dodge County and Joe Wineke, executive director of the Democratic Party of Wisconsin, to apologize for a political stunt at the recent Dodge County Fair that apparently offended some fairgoers.

Among the items for sale at the Democrats' booth at the Dodge County Fair was a button that read "F Scott Fitzgerald" with the "F" apparently intended to represent an offensive four-letter curse word.

While the button was for sale early in the week of the County Fair, Democrats removed it from their display later in the week.

"The County Fair is supposed to be a fun family event each summer, not a platform for juvenile personal attacks," said Fitzgerald in a press release. "There are deep differences between my views and the views of the Democratic Party. But that doesn't mean that we can't have a civil debate without resorting to crude innuendo and offensive behavior."

Fitzgerald said that many fairgoers commented to him about the buttons, indicating that they were offended by their message.

"I had many families approach me during the time I spent at the Fair who were disturbed by the message being sent by the Democrats and their crude bathroom humor," Fitzgerald said. "I was happy to see the Democrats remove this item from their booth and hope they learned an important lesson from this incident."

I also hope they'll move to put this matter behind us by publicly apologizing to the families who were offended by their actions."

Keep it up folks, the over-reaching is nearly complete.

Blue dog democrats are all bark and no bite

To say the least the blue dog democrats that won their elections on promises of fiscal responsibility have completely failed to hold up their end of the bargain.

From the Opinion Journal-

Here's the rub: So far this year the blue dogs have been almost all bark when it comes to fiscal restraint and debt reduction. Thirty of the 48 have voted for every one of the non-defense spending bills their committee chairman have sent them. Speaker Nancy Pelosi is enforcing party discipline, and as a result 28 of the 48 blue dogs voted "no" on each of the 27 amendments that Republicans proposed to cut the costs of these bills. The 13 freshman Democrats who represent conservative districts--such as Heath Shuler (N.C.), Baron Hill (Ind.), Zack Space (Ohio), Nick Lampson (Texas)--have been a particular disappointment; back home these same blue dogs trumpet their "independent streak."

continued...

Can we call them blue puppy democrats now?

Democrats Disenfranchise...Democrats

Gee, I thought from all the crap Jay, Xoff, and the elected gang in Madison have been telling all of us for years; only our side can do that.

Guess we were all wrong.

Florida Democrats would forfeit their votes in selecting a presidential nominee unless they delay their state election by at least a week, the national party said in a stern action Saturday meant to discourage others from leapfrogging ahead to earlier dates.

The Florida party has 30 days to submit an alternative to its planned Jan. 29 primary or lose its 210 delegates to the nominating convention in Denver next summer.

The state party chairwoman, Karen Thurman, said she would confer with state officials about the ultimatum. "It's going to be a difficult discussion," she said, because Floridians are wary of having their votes taken away.

Elected officials in Florida have said they would consider legal action and a protest at the convention if the national party barred the state's delegates.

There is general agreement that the eventual nominee will seat Florida's delegates rather than allow a fight at a convention intended to show party unity. But the decision by the Democratic National Committee's rules panel could reduce Florida's influence because candidates may want to campaign in states where the votes are counted.

I for one, demand an apology.

Yeah, like we'll get one...

This is just one of the circumstances of the trend started in 2003, when states across the nation began to shuffle the calendar of their primaries so they "mattered" when it came to selecting their respective party's nomination. Wisconsin is no less guilty of this crime since moving its Presidential Primary from April to February. Much at the urging of ironic as it is, from then-Congressman Tom Barrett, and then-State Rep. Scott Walker, who kept pushing the idea on two fronts as early as 2000.

The change was signed into law in 2003 by Governor Doyle.

2007, could probably be best seen as "Revenge of the Jumped."

The popular blame among Florida Democrats about why this is happening from the DNC is that they got railroaded in its state's move by the GOP-controlled legislature and signed by a GOP Governor. That'd be a great excuse if a Democratic Senator in Michigan - Carl Levin - wasn't pushing his Democratic-controlled State Legislature and Democratic Governor to jump its primary as well.

Yeah know, I'm beginning to like this idea of regional primaries on a rotating schedule each Presidential cycle after the Iowa Caucuses and New Hampshire Primary. It may be the one thing that finally ends this madness; because I really don't want to start casting votes for the 2012 Presidential Election in 2010.

Hey, Governor Doyle!

Read this:

Following the 1996 Dunblane school massacre, in which seventeen people were killed by a man armed with two 9mm pistols, Britain passed a law outlawing the ownership of most handguns, despite researchers finding "no link between high levels of gun crime and areas where there were still high levels of lawful gun possession." It's a law so severe that the Britain's Olympic shooting team is forced to train abroad, lest one of its members try to shoot up a grammar school. So how effective has the law been? A doubling in gun-related crimes since the ban, naturally.

Found via Instapundit.

Maybe Cambridge should rethink this one

Can anyone tell me why? I'll give you a hint-that's floodwater (click to enlarge).

And we wonder why the costs of floods seem to go up every year.

Congratulations, Brian

Brian Fraley is getting married tomorrow, and I'd like to take this moment to congratulate him and offer my condolences to the soon to be Mrs. Fraley (I kid because I love). Brian tells us that he will not be live blogging the honeymoon, and I, for one, would like to thank him for that.

All kidding aside, good health, great joy, much love, and a long life together to the soon to be married Mr. & Mrs. Fraley.

Does the idea we are now convicting people for "Thought Crime" bother you

Now that a Waukesha County Jury has convicted Michael Monyelle not for committing a crime but THINKING about it. I have to ask does this bother you.

I have to be honest this scares the shat out of me when the State can lock you up for what you think not what your actions are it is a sad day for America.

What he was thinking about is a moot point he never acted on those thoughts since he was released from jail.

You have to look beyond this one case, isn't this what lawyers and law professors call the slippery slope? Where do we go from here? The former Soviet Union used to send people to the Gulags for being a social deviant(read gay) so down the slope can we lock people up for thinking about having sex with with a person of the same sex. Or for thinking that people who believe in any religion our out of their minds?

Who gets to decide which thoughts are out of bounds?

So what else are we not allowed to Think about? I am serious if I have been on this jury they would have had a hung jury due to the fact you should not be able to lock people up for their thoughts. No matter how terrible they are Actions yes but thoughts no.


And this is coming from a parent of two small children.

Orwell tried to warn us but we seem to ignore his message.

WSB Chris

Helpful tips

Advice for people facing flooding, from the Chicago Tribune:

•Do not allow children (or anyone) to play in flooded areas. Drowning is the No. 1 cause of flood deaths. Six inches of moving water can knock you off your feet.
•Do not drive through a flooded area.
•Before entering a flooded area of a home, turn off the electricity. Stay away from power lines and electrical wires.
•If the electricity is out, use battery-powered flashlights or lanterns. Do not use candles, gas lanterns or torches because gas lines may be broken and an explosion could occur.
•Wear boots and rubber gloves to reduce contact with contaminated water.
•With the electricity off, a fully stocked freezer will keep food frozen for 24 hours if the door remains closed. Food in the refrigerator will stay cool for four to six hours depending on how warm the kitchen is.

The Girl Scout Motto, when I was one, was "Be prepared." Good advice, so read the whole thing.

View from my back yard

I swear it is almost that bad.

Is everyone else who lives in Wisconsin as sick of the rain as I am?

CCR

Sorry the best I could do for a video for this song.

"Who will stop the rain?"
Chris CP @ the WSB.

Wow.

BALTIMORE (AP) -- The Texas Rangers became the first team in 110 years to score 30 runs in a game, setting an American League record Wednesday in a 30-3 rout of the Baltimore Orioles...

Texas also set a team record for runs scored in a doubleheader -- before the second game even started.

Heh. I love that part.

Even with the one-sided score, there was a save. Wes Littleton earned his second career save and first this season by pitching three scoreless innings.

What? I thought the winning run had to be at the plate or something in order to make it a save.

Here's something else I don't understand: the Rangers got 30 runs on 29 hits; 8 players walked aboard, and the Orioles had one fielding error. But according to the box score, the Rangers left 18 runners stranded. Could there have been that many balks? Somebody explain it to me.

Anyway, here's what I was wowing about:

David Murphy had five of the Rangers' 29 hits, the most by a major league team since Milwaukee had 31 in a 22-2 victory over Toronto on Aug. 28, 1992.

I remember that game!

I Can So Relate

Someone Must Be Seeking Re-Election

It's a pity our side has a hard time recruiting a candidate in State Senate District 12, Roger Breske (D-Eland) would be such an easy pick-off.

Governor’s Plan Does Nothing to Fight Crime

Eland, WI – Wisconsin State Senator Roger Breske released the following statement in reaction to Governor Jim Doyle’s plan to “Keep Milwaukee Safe.”

“Just last week the Governor traveled around the Northwoods praising the virtues of our quality of life and the values we hold dear. The proposals he has made will do very little if anything to quell the violence that Milwaukee residents face. Instead these new proposals will only put more hurdles in front of law-abiding gun owners. I am committed to working with Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett and others to find ways to curb the culture of violence in Milwaukee and elsewhere without taking away the rights of law-abiding citizens in the Northwoods.”

You have to love press releases from Breske. They're so rare you almost feel you need to time the replacement of the battery in your smoke detector to them.

New Take on Carbon Offsets

This has been all over the blogosphere today.

Norway is concerned that its national animal, the moose, is harming the climate by emitting an estimated 2,100 kilos of carbon dioxide a year through its belching and farting.

That's "equivalent to the CO2 output resulting from a 13,000 kilometer car journey," according to the article.

So let's see: 13,000 kilometers is 8,060 miles.

I drive 100 miles per day on my commute. That's 500 miles a week, 25,000 miles over 50 weeks.

That means I can offset my carbon footprint by killing 3.1 moose, which I'll round up to 4.

I could round it down, I think, since my car gets better-than-average gas mileage, but I've tasted mooseburger.

Say, how much is that in whitetails?

If You Give a Mouse a Cookie

Advice to take.


Thanks to the twisted minds at Adult Swim's Robot Chicken.

I wonder what she would say to the parents of the boy killed in Sheboygan

Elvira Arellano, 32, became an activist and a national symbol for illegal immigrant parents was finally deported by US authorities

I love when Non US Citizens think they get a voice in making US Law.

I wonder what she would say to the parents of the young man killed by an illegal alien who is fleeing to Mexico if he isn't already back there now.

If they are willing to break our immigration laws why should we be surprised that they chose to ignore our other laws when they break them.

I would like to know why they let her hiding in a church stop them.

Seal the Border develop a workable guest worker program and then start rounding up illegals who refuse to comply to our laws and deport them.

WSB Chris

Why has George W Bush turned his Weather Machine on Wisconsin?

The last couple days it is like we live in Seattle it will not stop raining which begs the more important question.


Why is George W Bush trying to destroy Wisconsin with his Weather Machine. You know the one he used to try and wipe New Orleans off the map. Because no matter what form it takes drought, flood, hurricane or ice age bad weather is W's fault.

Well it appears that Progressive Wisconsin is now in his gun sites.

Mr President please spare Waukesha County just flood Milwaukee twice as hard. They have earned your wrath.

----------------
Now playing: Iron Maiden - The Trooper
via FoxyTunes


;)
Chris

Updated with a little Hank Scorpio(one of my heroes a super villain who gets it right)

Chief of Staffs Say the Darnedest Things

With power comes treasure, and no doubt the Democrats are bringing it in for the 2008 election. PACs have come calling, businesses trying to stay on the offensive against potential regulation are cutting checks, and so on and so forth.

Dan Bice was nice enough to look at the numbers for the Wisconsin Democrats in the House. Everyone's making out like bandits; especially Obey; as Appropriations Chair, and Kagen; being the rookie they need in place to maintain the majority.

Obey's office wasn't willing to comment on campaign finances. (Wonder why...)

David B. Williams (See how much he makes in three months here.), Chief of Staff for Rep. Steve Kagen, M.D. (D-Appleton), was surprisingly open about it.

(He clearly doesn't know you only give Bice tips, not full-fledged interviews. He'll learn.)

Next in line after Obey: first-termer Steve Kagen, who collected nearly $450,000 from January to June. Of that, about $325,000 came from PACs - more than eight times what he took in from special-interest accounts during his entire election run last year.

"Two things," said Kagen chief of staff David Williams, describing his boss' sudden popularity on the money circuit. "He's now an incumbent, and he's in the majority."

[...]

Williams said it is Kagen's aim not to dip into his wallet to underwrite his campaign, even if it takes several million dollars to win. Last year, he pumped more than $2.5 million into the race.

"People here - for instance, in the D.C. PAC community - have gotten the message that it's important to (House Speaker) Nancy Pelosi and the Democratic majority, including people like Dave Obey, that Steve return," Williams said. "So people are stepping up."

And they'll keep doing so as long as he's the incumbent and the Democrats are in charge.

And the clear reality is, as long as Kagen's in that seat; he's never going to have anything close to an easy re-election fight. He's going to need a gerrymander to ever end the constant looking over his political shoulder.

Funny thing is, I'd don't recall Mark Graul, Chris Tuttle, or Nicole Vernon -- Green's Chief of Staffs during his eight years in Congress -- ever openly talking about campaign finances and PAC donations in what was clearly their position as "Policy Guru and Congressional Office Manager."

Did ethics laws change for the worse since then?

Truth be told, none of this is news to me. Kagen's pulled in about 80% of his total contributions from PACs, as I've reported previously. His donations from individuals; particularly from his own district, are next to nothing.

As for his Chief of Staff's gaffe; hey par for the course. It's getting hard to tell the office and the campaign apart in recent months.

I'd also like to thank Williams for confirming what I've been saying for months: Kagen wants others to pay the bills this time. He's not going into his pockets a second time.

Perhaps, this just might end the "He's Loaded" talk from the Recess Supervisor once and for all. But from what I've been told, Gruber's always had a hard time with mea culpas since college.

The Dow Jones is swinging more wildly than...

...Tarzan after a bar crawl.

...a pregnant woman's moods during a chocolate and pickle shortage.

...the back door of the Brewers' bandwagon.

What, you think you can do better?

Another point I wish I'd made...

...about "Healthy Wisconsin," the Democrats' socialized health care "plan." This one from Jo Egelhoff, up at Foxcities.net:

...cost savings for municipal employees, as claimed by Healthy Wisconsin proponents are for now, illusory, as most unions will demand supplemental policies and/or an equivalent quid pro quo. Also, the Alliance for Cities suggests that most municipal employees, paying premium contributions of 4.5% of their salary as called for by HW, would be paying more than they’re currently paying. Do you think Local 284 would stand for that?

MJS needs a metaphor refresher.

Here's the gist of their editorial today:

The new so-called no-match rule is a path underground. It will require employers to fire employees or verify legal status after about three months if the Social Security Administration informs them that an employee's number doesn't match known records. If the employers don't do this, they could be found to have "constructive knowledge" that the worker was not here legally. And legal residents also are likely to be ensnared in this net.

I'm not familiar with this, so I'm not commenting on the policy. It sounds like the Feds want to start enforcing laws against hiring illegal aliens.

Now, here's the Journal Sentinel's conclusion (emphasis added):

So if they're staying and the economy needs more of them all the time, enforcement only is to this problem what gasoline is to fire. Enforcing respect for the law is fine, but this works best when the law itself isn't so broken.

If it's like "what gasoline is to fire," then this law will cause a huge increase in illegal immigration. A flood of illegals, if I may mix my metaphors in a somewhat more effective way.

But clearly, real enforcement of these laws would not have that effect. It may not stop illegal immigration, or even slow it (again, I'm not familiar with the policy), but will it actually cause a huge increase?

Is this the best writing we can expect from the biggest newspaper in the state?

Re: Man-eating Badgers Didn't Come from England

This story is so old they are teaching it in first grade Wisconsin history!

Man-eating Badgers Didn't Come from England

Was catching up on my TMQ, and found this gem:

British forces have denied rumours that they released a plague of ferocious badgers into the Iraqi city of Basra.

...

UK military spokesman Major Mike Shearer said: "We can categorically state that we have not released man-eating badgers into the area."

Shearer was heard to be muttering several things under his breath while leaving the press conference at which he denied knowledge about the man-eating badgers.

You could try to make this stuff up, but nobody would ever believe you ever again.

Anyway, if anybody was going to leave man-eating badgers wandering around, for sure it would have been the 32nd ID.

Clinton's Records

Hillary Clinton, that is. And no, I don't mean her music collection.

From the LA Times (free registration required):

Clinton's first-lady records locked up

Archivists say the documents at her husband's presidential library won't be released until after the '08 vote.

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. -- Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton cites her experience as a compelling reason voters should make her president, but nearly 2 million pages of documents covering her White House years are locked up in a building here, obscuring a large swath of her record as first lady.

"Opposition researchers would be very hungry to see what's there." Robert Shrum, senior political strategist in Democratic Sen. John F. Kerry's 2004 presidential campaign, said: "In 2 million pieces of paper, would opposition researchers hope to find one where she wrote a memo saying, 'I wish I'd never gotten involved in healthcare?' Sure. That's what they'd love to find."...

Asked how long it might be before Hillary Clinton's records are released, the library's chief archivist said it could take years.

"We're processing as fast as we can," Melissa Walker said....

Ann Althouse asks:

We're processing the papers as fast as we can, and we just won't be able to get to these papers in time for the 2008 election. Do you accept that answer?

I've got a better question: if Clinton is elected, will the records be released at any time during her time in the White House?

Something else I wish I'd thought of

I still haven't forgiven Christian Schneider for his awesome point about the Dems' "Healthy Wisconsin" plan, and then I come across this, via Wicked Thoughts via Grandpa Steve:

(Liberal thought) says that the president has shredded the Constitution and that it is is a living document.

One bad idea dies in Madison

For now, at least.

Stung by criticism that he was putting his proposed trolley system ahead of crime-fighting and regional transportation woes, Madison Mayor Dave Cieslewicz on Monday killed his dream for city streetcars.

I always found it strange that a city so obsessed with the view of the capital that it would stunt the growth of tall buildings downtoen would in turn ruin that view with street car cables. But I guess when an even more expensive and likely unused choo-choo train is at stake, nostalgia for street cars can take a back seat.

Cieslewicz said he wanted to make sure a proposal for a Regional Transportation Authority -- scheduled for votes by the Dane County Board on Thursday and City Council on Sept. 4 -- wasn't tainted by the trolleys ' bad karma.

Yeah, with any luck that RTA will die a quiet, ugly death, too. I hate to say it Madison Libs and Greens, but you've created a sprawling metropolis that just doesn't fit the mass transit model. Great job! Long live the Beltline!

OWN Now Led by Crook

(Enter the Hate Mail!)

Gee, what is this for One Wisconsin Now, their third Executive Director in a year?

At this rate, that outfit will surpass the number of campaign managers Fred Thompson and John McCain have had combined by next summer.

Perennial Capitol aide Scot Ross is leaving the building's marble hallways to be executive director of One Wisconsin Now.

One Wisconsin Now, which describes its mission as an effort to "advance progressive values and workable ideas and strategies" through policy, communication and networking, was formed in 2006 ahead of the state's gubernatorial election.

Ross ran for the Democratic nomination for Secretary of State last September but lost to incumbent Democrat Doug LaFollette. This year he's been working for Sen. Jon Erpenbach (D-Middleton); prior political stints included work for the Democratic Party of Wisconsin, former Attorney General Peg Lautenschlager and Dane County Executive Kathleen Falk. He also worked for the now-abolished State Senate Democratic Caucus.

Of course, some know Scot Ross for a much more...infamous deed.

Former Assembly Democratic Caucus aide Scot Ross told investigators that for five months in 2000, he worked practically full-time on campaign issues including the first campaign of Rep. Terry Van Akkeren (D-Sheboygan).

That's right, the Democratic Poster Child for the Caucus Scandal.

(What were the legal fees again Scot? $3,000 or was it $4,000?)

The BBA would like to thank OWN for completely defusing any and all ethics charges they might level in the next election cycle against Republicans by their recent pity hire.

Thanks guys!

AP: Tommy Dropping Out

There are reports, but no official statement from the Tommy Thompson Campaign, that the former Wisconsin Governor is dropping out.

Former Wisconsin Governor Tommy Thompson is reportedly dropping out of the presidential race.

A Milwaukee TV station is reporting that the Republican hopeful has ended his White House bid after Saturday's sixth-place finish in the Iowa straw poll.

Thompson’s campaign hasn’t issued a formal statement. Nor has a spokesperson returned multiple calls from The Associated Press.

But WITI-TV says Thompson told a reporter Sunday morning the disappointing finish was like being hit by a Mack truck.

In the months leading up to the straw poll, Thompson repeatedly said he’d drop out if he didn’t finish first or second.

Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney won the poll.

I think Tommy summed it up best when he told the Washington Post, his best chance at the Big Job was in 1996.

If Tommy ever wants to return in the good graces of those who were forced to live with this over-glorified ego-trip, might I offer a suggestion:

Spend next year campaigning for nothing but Wisconsin Republican Candidates. It will show for once, he cares more about the survival of Wisconsin conservative ideals -- many of them his own -- and candidates, than his own political ambitions.

Plus, it'll piss off Jim Doyle real good if Tommy helps keep the Assembly in Republican hands.

Then, these guys could return the favor in 2010 when he finally does what every GOPer in the Badger State's been wanting him to do for a decade -- run for the U.S. Senate.

Him on that ballot, might even help out the guy running for his old job, be it Walker or J.B.

But my guess is he'll turn it down again, just like before. His ego won't or can't handle it.

"Tommy" can't handle being one of a hundred; or worse, being the "Junior Senator."

I know a lot of Republicans in Wisconsin owe their livelihood to Tommy G. Thompson, but it's time he returns the favor, if nothing more than as "Party Elder Statesman."

UPDATE: It's officially over. Journal Sentinel has the details.

This Is Justice

H/T to Jenn of the Jungle.

A man in Michigan is sentenced to scrubbing veterans' monuments with a toothbrush and wearing a shirt that read: "I Stole From Veterans" as punishment for a scam involving solicitation of donations for a monument to Iraq war vets.

A judge ordered Philip Kolinski, 73, of Carrollton Township, Mich., to wash the veterans monument outside the Saginaw County Governmental Center after he was found guilty of soliciting metal donations for a sculpture dedicated to Iraq War veterans that was never built, the Saginaw News said.

Instead of using the metal for a monument, he sold it and kept the money, the paper reports.

Useless Insider Crap

Admittedly, since I worked with both of them in the last two months of the Green Campaign, this news couldn't help but make me wonder if words were exchanged on some level between Rick Wiley and Jill Latham about this.

Rudy Giuliani's camp is circulating a data-heavy memo seeking to heighten expectations for Romney at Ames on Saturday.

"Assuming Governor Romney’s Iowa operation is as good as it is said to be and based on expected turnout, internal data, and polling trends, it is likely that Gov. Romney will have at least 24,000 supporters at the Ames Straw Poll," they write, adding that Romney ought to win by an 8-1 margin over their nearest opponent.

A Romney adviser scoffs at the gambit, calling it "hysterical."

"This is the funniest thing I've ever seen," observes the Romney source, pointing out that 24,000 votes would be "nearly four times more voters than" then-Gov. Bush won at Ames in 1999.

Bush got 7,418 votes.

For the 2006 cycle, Rick Wiley was Executive Director of RPW. Jill Latham was his right-hand gal as the State Party's Political Director.

Now Wiley's "National Deputy Political Director" for Giuliani; Latham is Romney's Iowa Political Director; meaning she's one of the Four-Star Generals who have to run the Romney operation to ensure victory in the Ames Straw Poll.

Meaning in short: It's her ass on the line tomorrow.

If I was them, I would have probably come out with two facts if you want to play back and forth (not that you should this close to the event):

1) No GOP Presidential Candidate has ever won the nomination without at least taking part in the Ames Straw Poll. (Rudy, Fred, and McCain are all skipping it.)

2) Silence from the Peanut Gallery!

State Fair Get Together

Saturday is the day. I plan to be at the microbrew tent at about noon.

We'd still like to have the BBQ, but we don't know how many people to expect. My plan is to go to the fair and find out who's coming, then we'll meet at our place later on. I think 4 or 5pm is a reasonable time.

50 Rules Kids Won't Learn In School

Cross-posted at THEB.

Michelle Malkin on Charlie Sykes’s new book, 50 Rules Kids Won’t Learn In School: Real-World Antidotes to Feel-Good Education.

Sykes has long been one of my favorite chroniclers of our dumbed-down education
and the corrupting effects of the self-esteem movement. I just received his new
book, set for release on August 21, titled “50 Rules Kids Won’t Learn in School:
Real-World Antidotes to Feel-Good Education.” Witty, acerbic, reality-grounded.
It’s a great purchase for college-bound friends/family or parents with
school-age kids.

Here’s the website for the book itself.

One thing’s for sure: it’s on my reading list.

Stossel: 'America Needs "Healthy Wisconsin"'

You get torn with logic like this. But, with free market libertarians, you come to expect it.

As a free market Wisconsinite, you can't help but cringe.

In a column today, ABC News John Stossel says that America needs "Healthy Wisconsin," just to watch it crash and burn, then learn from the mistake.

That's why America needs "Healthy Wisconsin." The fall of the Soviet Union deprived us of the biggest example of how socialism works. We need laboratories of failure to demonstrate what socialism is like. All we have now is Cuba, Venezuela, North Korea, the U.S. Post Office, and state motor-vehicle departments.

It's not enough. Wisconsin can show the other 49 states what "universal" coverage is like.

I feel bad for the people in Wisconsin. They already suffer from little job creation, and the Packers aren't winning, but it's better to experiment with one state than all of America.

I'm sure the other big Libertarian in media, Neal Boortz, has said something similar in recent weeks.

Favorite Dog-Cop Movie...The Return of the BBA Poll

It has been a long time since we've had a little fun with polls around here, so I've decided that it is high time to bring 'em back. Since we are in the dog days of summer, what better poll than the following?

Which cop-dog movie do you prefer?
	Turner & Hooch
	K-9
 
Free polls from Pollhost.com

Mr. Hackbarth goes to Washington

Congratulations, Sean!

Here’s my big announcement, and it has nothing to do with MySpace:

An incredible opportunity has been given to me. I couldn’t not take it. I’ve been hired as part of the web team for the Friends of Fred Thompson. I dropped everything and quickly moved to Washington, D.C. Work started last week with plenty to keep me busy as you can see with I’m With Fred 2.0.

Good luck in the swamp, Sean.

So tell me again why making fuel out of a major food source is a good thing?

This is sign is all over the Milk Case at my local Pick and Save(Pabst Farms in Oconomowoc)


I want to thank all those idiot politicians in Madison and DC for selling us out to your friends at ADM and other ethanol producers. This is only going to get worse as farmers stop planting other things like Soybeans etc to plant corn so they can sell it to ethanol producers, driving up the prices of those plants also.

It is all a big joke Switch grass would be a much better choice as a crop to use to make ethanol but guess what ADM does not grow switch grass do they?

this is a case when the politicians of both parties are selling us out.

Say No to Corn for Ethanol.

WSB Chris

It's Pretty Obvious, Ain't It?

Come on folks, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out why Steve Kagen voted against the ability to wiretap terrorists.

They aren't on the plane yet. Only then will he take action, remember?

UPDATE: For those interested, the first Cook Political Report rankings for 2008 from Charlie Cook are out. No seats currently held by one party are currently listed as going to the other side, which at fifteen months out, is probably about right.

He lists WI-08 as "Lean Democratic," which is where I'd put it too at this stage in the game. You have a likely Democratic year coming up, the GOP potentially looking at a primary, and the standard bearer from 2006 given a lukewarm reception at his announcement he's considering a re-match.

Re: Exploiting tragedy

Of course it's a conspiracy. The way you can tell is that people are saying it is, while the government is busy trying to look, well, busy. Like everything's under control, nothing to see here.

Other than that, let's talk about exploitation:

This is not going to be the last word on bridges, infrastructure, the Minnesota I35W bridge collapse

Who thought it would be, except you egomaniacs who try to use events to drive your own agenda? Who wants it to be, when a lot of bridges clearly need repair work?

and the Republican treason and conspiracy to weaken this nation which, unfortunately, includes too many Democratic fellow-travelers.

If it's a Republican treason with "Democratic fellow-travelers," doesn't that make it by-partisan? Or is it a de facto assumption that since Republicans are involved, they are the evil masterminds and any Dems involved are simply caught up in their sinister obfuscation?

And what's with this whole "fellow traveler" meme? It's silly.

The simple truth? You're projecting.

They managed to do what Soviet Communism could never do: weaken the infrastructure of this nation and in turn, erode domestic defense and undermine our economy.

Umm, by spending like the drunken sailors we've come to associate as mostly Democrats? Well, you've got me there, so we'll set that aside for the moment. But I'm glad to hear that you want a smaller budget focused on something that affects all citizens, and not just special programs for this or that constituency.

I'm just not sure how you can complain about the cost of the war in Iraq (admit that you have) and the associated military buildup, then complain that our domestic defense is eroded? Seriously? Is Japan going to attack the West Coast while our soldiers are training at inland bases and serving across Europe and Asia?

We must be vigilant. Newt Gingrich lead the assault on our nation from Washington thirteen years ago, and George W. Bush and his cronies carry on the erosive legacy today.

What could you be talking about, except for the Contract With America? Have you ever read it? It's a reasoned approach to government, with commitments to notions like "requir[ing] all laws that apply to the rest of the country [to] also apply equally to the Congress," and "select[ing] a major, independent auditing firm to conduct a comprehensive audit of Congress for waste, fraud or abuse."

Yup, scary stuff. But related to Dubya? Sadly, no.

Now there are conspirators and fellow-travelers in the Wisconsin legislature committed to do the same - destroy our roads and schoolhouses. They are bent upon destroying us from within.

Man, it's tough to know what to say to that. We've got the evil Repub meme revived, but for no apparent reason other than to drive the simple-minded or predisposed to further partisanship with no basis and no purpose. Other than to spur on more government spending.

That's sad.

Some Free Public Relations Advice

For Curtis Ellis, Steve Kagen's Communications Director, aka "The New York guy."

Don't issue a Press Release saying this:

You sent me to Washington to fight for positive change and a new direction, and to bring an end to the dishonest ways of doing business in Congress. You sent me to Washington to fight for positive change and a new direction, and to bring an end to the dishonest ways of doing business in Congress.

Promise made - promise delivered.

Today, Congress is continuing to free our government from the influence of political insiders and special interests.

Working together in a bipartisan fashion, the House and the Senate just passed the toughest ethics law in our nation’s history.

It requires lobbyists to disclose all their contributions to lawmakers. It denies pensions to Members of Congress convicted of corruption. It ends the K St project and prohibits hiring and firing based on politics.

This is not about party or politics. It is about restoring confidence in our own government.

I am working hard to restore your belief that good government can make a real difference in your lives.

Today, I call upon President Bush to sign this law.

The American people need to know their government is serving the public interest, not vested interests."

When your boss is taking about 80% of his re-election donations from Lobbyist PACs, you're touting a bill called the "Open Government Act" that had to be negotiated behind closed doors, and on the same day there's over ten minutes of video of this floating out there; it makes your boss look like a hypocrite.

(Of course, he's doing a fine job making himself look like a clown.)
My favorite part was the rush of Freshmen Democrats flooding the Clerk's desk to change their vote about ten seconds in after the gavel. It's about 27 seconds into the video.

Then about at the 50 second mark, you see Steny Hoyer make a quick, angry dash to the Congressional Podium.

What did he say?

Well, the House GOP took apart that video. The Democratic House Majority Leader is caught saying: "We control this House, not the Parliamentarian."

But hey, if the Dems have to cheat to ensure Illegal Immigrants continue to receive welfare benefits, more power to them.

For those wondering, Kagen voted along party lines on the contested vote; thus voting to keep illegal aliens on the federal dime. Guess he's got to write another column -- like this one -- on how tough he's been on illegals, hoping the folks back home buy it.

Just a little anecdote

Working at the Capitol, I sometimes see people wandering semi-aimlessly, like they're looking for something, but aren't sure where it is.

Not uncommon. The Capitol is a confusing place in more ways than one.

Today, I ran into a small group looking for Rep. Jim Krueser's office. They'd been told it was on the second floor.

"One more floor up," I told them. They were surprised, having already come up one flight of stairs.

See, at the Capitol, what you and I would call the first floor is actually the ground floor. What we would call the second floor is the first floor.

Just a fun little thing I get to explain to people sometimes, who came to find out how their government works.

And with that, I'm on vacation. Man the battlements, people! The barbarians close in all around us!

Exploiting tragedy

Madison's former Mayor, Paul Soglin, blames the I-35 tragedy on a "conspiracy" led by Republicans:

This is not going to be the last word on bridges, infrastructure, the Minnesota I35W bridge collapse and the Republican treason and conspiracy to weaken this nation which, unfortunately, includes too many Democratic fellow-travelers. They managed to do what Soviet Communism could never do: weaken the infrastructure of this nation and in turn, erode domestic defense and undermine our economy.

We must be vigilant. Newt Gingrich lead the assault on our nation from Washington thirteen years ago, and George W. Bush and his cronies carry on the erosive legacy today. Now there are conspirators and fellow-travelers in the Wisconsin legislature committed to do the same - destroy our roads and schoolhouses. They are bent upon destroying us from within.

If you hadn't already, go ahead and chalk Soglin up with the paranoid, moonbat Left. Republicans aren't just wrong, according to him: we're actively trying to kill Americans.

Price controls work so well...

Hard to believe this was in the New York Times (h/t to Instapundit):

BULAWAYO, Zimbabwe, July 28 — Robert G. Mugabe has ruled over this battered nation, his every wish endorsed by Parliament and enforced by the police and soldiers, for more than 27 years. It appears, however, that not even an unchallenged autocrat can repeal the laws of supply and demand.

One month after Mr. Mugabe decreed just that, commanding merchants nationwide to counter 10,000-percent-a-year hyperinflation by slashing prices in half and more, Zimbabwe’s economy is at a halt.

Bread, sugar and cornmeal, staples of every Zimbabwean’s diet, have vanished, seized by mobs who denuded stores like locusts in wheat fields. Meat is virtually nonexistent, even for members of the middle class who have money to buy it on the black market. Gasoline is nearly unobtainable. Hospital patients are dying for lack of basic medical supplies. Power blackouts and water cutoffs are endemic.

Manufacturing has slowed to a crawl because few businesses can produce goods for less than their government-imposed sale prices. Raw materials are drying up because suppliers are being forced to sell to factories at a loss. Businesses are laying off workers or reducing their hours.

Right. And government control of health care will control health care costs because...

It can happen here

With the collapse of the 35W bridge in Minneapolis, it pays to remember that this can happen here, too. Many of us remember when the Hoan Bridge failed in 2000, and a study of the state's Interstate system released in 2006 gave us this little gem:

*Eight percent of the state's Interstate Bridges are rated structurally deficient and nine percent are rated functionally obsolete.

The eight percent is the portion of bridges that are a structural rather than design concern, and eight percent is a number that can be tackled. It is high time that we put an increased emphasis on ensuring the safety of exisitng roads and bridges over the building of new ones, at least for a while. Having said that, however, do not think for a moment that throwing money at the problem is the solution. If the 35W collapse creates new political pressure from the public to improve existing infrastructure, then there will also likely be a new wave of lobbying on the part of firms wanting a piece of the pie. While we need to ensure the viability of our existing infrastructure, we need to be smart and measured approach to it. If public pressure and lobbying dove tail on this issue, we risk watching Madison throw a lot more money at the problems than will be necessary because they'll be able to please both constituents and donors by doing so.

But it'll only cost $15 billion!

Proponents of socialized health care in Wisconsin say the latest version - the "Healthy Wisconsin Plan" - will save money, becuase its $15 billion price tag is less than what we're already paying for health insurance and care.

But:

Estimates of new entitlement programs inevitably understate the actual cost, either for political reasons (to ease passage) or out of innocent miscalculations, as happened with Medicare. In 1966, its first year of existence, Medicare cost $3 billion a year: the House Ways and Means Committee predicted it would cost $12 billion in 1990, taking inflation into account. But instead of costing $12 billion in 1990, Medicare cost $107 billion. And it is set to cost $488 billion in fiscal 2008.

Or consider the new prescription drug benefit for seniors, estimated to cost about roughly $1 trillion from 2007 to 2016: the costs of that program are set to rise significantly thereafter as more baby-boomers retire. Originally, the White House estimated the plan to cost $400 billion over a 10-year period; it ended up costing substantially more.

By all means, let's trust in that initial government estimate.

Kagen Loses Again

I'm sensing a pattern here.

Man goes off on his own, when compromises have already been established, and then gets his head handed to him.

Nah, those decisions won't come back and haunt him next year at all!

A congressional conference committee has agreed to reauthorize the depth of the Fox River navigational channel to six feet, a victory for the paper companies that favor capping more of the river pollution.

The Water Resources Development Act (WRDA) is expected to be passed by the House of Representatives and U.S. Senate before Congress adjourns at the end of the week.

The conference committee accepted the Senate version that changes the authorized depth of the channel from the Georgia-Pacific turning basin to the De Pere dam from 18 feet to six feet. Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency officials have said that the 18-foot depth would have made it virtually impossible to cap polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) as part of the $390 million river remediation project.

U.S. Rep. Steve Kagen, D-Appleton, pulled the 6-foot option from the House bill earlier this year but Sen. Herb Kohl left it in the Senate version.

“It was an honor to serve on the conference committee,” Kagen said late Tuesday in a statement. “I look forward to working with everyone in the House and Senate to improve the health and economic well-being of rivers across the country, and especially our Fox River.”

Georgia-Pacific officials could not be reached for comment late Tuesday.

Good. G-P doesn't need to reached for comment. They thought they had a deal in place that was years in the making before the fruitcake "doctor and scientist" came along and damned near blew it up.

Notice the wording of the Kagen press flack statement. He got taken to town, and Herb Kohl was chauffeur.